Inside the Garden of Good and Evil
by moonlitefaery
Summary: Four women, friends and enemies, chosen by the gods to help rid the magical world of its greatest threat. Love, loss, and adventure await our favorite Gryffindor heroine and her righteous crew. HG/DM, GW/HP, LL/RW and LB/RW, PP/BZ
1. Prologue

*Authors Note: So Ive had this idea in my head for a while, and though it is similar to the story under my other penname Kandimoon, I wasnt wholly satisfied with it and decided I like this idea better. Not to mention I have become an avid Dramione fan so much to the point that I am forgoing my research for my grad school paper to get these ideas onto the computer before I forget them. One thing I hate to point out is that Im terribly inconsistent with loading chapters up on time, and if I get side tracked it takes me forever to finish a story, please bare with me for that. Also this story will keep aspects of books 1-5, and some of 6, but from then on it is completely different so if you dont like it, well then go read something else. Now onto the show.

Prologue

_All my life I always wanted to fly. I always wanted to live like a hawk. I know youre not supposed to be jealous of anything, butto take flight, to soar above everything and everyone, now thats living._

She wasnt supposed to be in Slytherin, all her life she was raised to believe that she was favored amongst her magical community; a pureblood. From the moment she received her letter all she could think about was making her parents proud by learning to be the best witch she could be, marry a handsome and extremely wealthy pureblood wizard, and produce perfect pureblood offspring to raise and mold in their image. Lies, all lies

_Our lives are like bubbles in a small pool of water. Once in a while; and for only a few times in our lives, someone or something comes along and splashes the water, dispersing the bubbles. Our lives are disturbed, our beliefs are shaken, some of our dreams die. However, the bubbles will come together again eventually, as we all recover from our pains and sorrows. And life goes on. But the shape of the original pool of bubbles will never again be the same_

She wasnt supposed to have survived. The unfortunate incident that had claimed the life of her beloved mother should have destroyed her as well. Instead she had survived, but barely. Her body aged as everyone elses around her, but her mind would forever hold its youthful innocence of a child. It often felt as though the part of her mind that had matured was trapped behind a wall that no one could ever release. And so she went on with life, her father, her friends, no one truly knowing the real her, for the real her could not escape its mindful prison.

_I feel my glowing center grow_

_I feel alive_

_I stand_

_Not crawling_

_Not falling down._

She wasnt supposed to have been born. The last and only daughter from a large magical family, she should never have existed in the first place. The complications from her older brothers birth ensured the parents that he would be their last child, the healers told them so. But on a night like any other an image appeared in her mothers dream, telling her that her wish would be fulfilled, and nine months later she was born; the first girl born among a sea of boys. The fire of hope to her mothers eyes.

_But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth._

She wasnt supposed to be magical. The only child of two normal, hard working muggles that loved and daunted on their only child since the moment she was born. Never had there been any inkling of the power that ran through her very veins until the day an old man dressed in a costume robe knocked on the front door and changed all of their lives forever. He explained about the girls power, even so much as demonstrated some smaller charms and tricks, and then left a note of instructions on how to purchase school supplies and where to appear on September 1st. Even then she could not believe it, even when she saw firsthand what magic truly was could she fully understand what the old professor shown her. Her parents did not seem as phased as she had, and left the choice up to her. She loved her school, she excelled in every subject and at the age of 8 decided she wanted to be a doctor like her parents. Now there was something new thrown into her path and it was up to her to chose her own path. This new world opened a whole new set of possibilities that she never could have dreamed before. Not to mention if she did not care to stay, she could always return to her parents and continue her non-magical education somewhere else. Years later her friends would joke about her stern hard working attitude and her notion to always follow the rules, but theyd never that if it wasnt for one small ounce of rule breaking or spontaneous adventure streak, she never would have agreed to enter this new world to begin with.


	2. Chapter One: Crazy Train

_Chapter One: Crazy Train_

_Crazy, but that's how it goes  
Millions of people living as foes  
Maybe it's not too late  
To learn how to love  
And forget how to hate_

_Mental wounds not healing  
Life's a bitter shame  
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train"_

_-ozzy osbourne_

The summer was passing slowly and soon another year of Hogwarts would begin. I should have been excited, for everyone knew how much I loved school, but in essence I was terrified beyond words. The incident at the Ministry proved that the next few years would be increasingly difficult, especially for someone of my obvious parentage. The cat was out of the bag, as muggles would say, and with it the knowledge that I would do anything to fight alongside Harry and Ron to destroy the evil threatening our world. Would it have been easier to stay in the muggle world and disown my magical calling? I loved Harry and Ron as much as anyone could care for two boys who were as close to a sibling as I would ever get in my lifetime, but if I never had known of their existence, would I have been happier to stay in school and continue on my dreams to be a doctor? I knew it was too late to go back now, for everyone already knew me as the "brightest witch of her age" and best friend to the Boy-Who-Lived, but my increasing fear for myself and my parents had me wish that I still had the time turner and that it could go back in time years instead of hours.

"Hermione, dinner's almost ready." A voice shouted from down the hallway. Recognizing my mother's impatient tone I grabbed my wand before heading down the stairs. The time turner used during my third year altered the time of my body ever so slightly. Just enough that it recognized me as being over 17 even though my birthday was not for a few weeks yet.

"Obliviate!" And as the tears poured down my eyes I slowly altered my parents' memories of them ever having a daughter.

"I'm so sorry…so…so…so sorry." But I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, and with all the protection charms I could muster I left the Grangers slightly dazed and wondering if they should consider moving to some place warmer.

"HERMIONE!" A blur of red hair flew at me as I arrived at the Weasley's house later that day. I had to keep my composure as I saw Mrs. Weasley bustling over the stove with her wand cooking dinner, just as my parents had done not too long ago before I destroyed seventeen years worth of memories.

"Dear, how ever did you get here at this late at night?" The matriarch of the family asked worriedly, as it was common knowledge that I wasn't yet legal (a lot they know) and that my parents were muggles, and that I despise flying at all costs.

"I took the Knight Bus. I didn't want to disturb you so I had them drop me off closer to the town and walked up." I lied convincingly. The overwhelming need to cry was slowly catching up with me but I didn't want to worry Mrs. Weasley or Ginny so I kept the fake plastered smile on and proceeded to drop by overnight bag off near the table.

"You must be hungry dear, dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Ginny take her up to your room and get settled in."

"Has Harry arrived yet?" I asked curiously, beside me I felt Ginny's arm stiffen at the mention of her former crush.

"Dumbledore should be bringing him along here tomorrow night I believe. The Headmaster owled us saying they had to make a stop before they arrived. Must be important business if he won't even let the Order know what he's up to…" The words "crazy old man" seemed to have been mumbled under her breath, but it was so soft that I wasn't sure if I heard correctly, and therefore hid the giggle that bubbled up in my throat at the matriarch's obvious injustice at being left out.

Upstairs I redropped off my bag beside the extra bed that had been placed beside Ginny's for my arrival.

"So spill, how's your summer been?" She asked eagerly. I noticed a box of jewelry sitting beside her desk, and though not trying to be nosey, glanced at a fiery red stone that lay upon other necklaces and earrings.

"Pretty boring actually. Spent some time with my parents," at this I felt the need to choke down the bile that was working its way up my throat. "Read up on this year's school books, and of course with the news…" I said as I looked at her anxious face. I saw the shadow move across her own eyes as she too remembered the pain and terror from their expedition in the Ministry not two months before. The pain of losing Sirius, and the nightmares that were sure to plague about seeing Voldemort alive and up close.

"It's been tense here ever since as well. Mum's terrified to send us back to Hogwarts, but dad reassured her that we were safer under Dumbledore's protection then hiding here waiting for the possibility of an attack. Besides, we'd all drive each other crazy locked up in this house while a battle took place outside."

"What is this stone you have?" I asked, changing topics not only to liven the mood but because I was thoroughly engrossed at the odd orange-red coloring that was encompassed in silver.

"Oh that. Mum gave it to me as a gift on my 11th birthday. A kind of "welcome to your first step into adult hood and magic." I think she said it was Carnelian or something like that. Apparently its been passed down from mother to daughter and yada yada yada. You know I don't really wear that much jewelry to begin with so it mostly sits in that box until an occasion calls for it."

"It's gorgeous." I said with awe. I couldn't help but get the feeling of ancient magic as I glanced at it. Something seemed…unique…different…about it.

"Anyway, Mum says Harry arrives tomorrow. Oh, and be weary of Flem."

"Who?" I questioned the red head who now had a disgusted look on her face.

"My future sister in law…Fleur Delacour."

So Harry arrived and the rest of the summer passed by in a less than stressful breeze. Mr. Weasley had recently gotten a promotion and was only seen late at night and sometimes on the weekends. His hours were so filled that even though the money was a great help, the weariness in his face and eyes sometimes causes Mrs. Weasley to break down at odd intervals. Fleur, albeit annoying at times, kept mostly to herself especially after Ginny threatened to hex her if she didn't leave them alone to some privacy once in a while. The boys spent their free time practicing Quidditch in the backyard, and though my skills were considered dreadful at best, I had agreed to play along to keep the numbers fair on both teams. My human-like cat decided to spend his free time catching gnomes in the garden, and part of me hesitated to take him to Hogwarts where the threat of impending doom seemed to linger more and more. He was free here, happy here, and Mrs. Weasley would keep him safe from intruders. Part of me wishes I would have left him with my parents, but he was mine and I didn't want to overly burden them to take care of a cat that wasn't theirs, and slightly magical too. Tonks stopped by occasionally, but always looking as though she was about to fall over in tears at a moments notice. We had just assumed she was overly taken with the news of her cousin's death, but something about the situation didn't seem right, but who was I to judge? And so, it was no surprise that the summer came and went with a breeze and sooner than expected it was time once again to board the fire engine red train and return once again to the school of magic.

"Hermione we don't leave till tomorrow, you have plenty of time to finish packing." Ginny, the procrastinator, mentioned as she looked to her own large pile of things that needed to still be packed. I could have completed the task in seconds, but with Ginny close and watching my every move, I didn't want to alert her to the fact that I was already considered a legal adult in the Wizarding world.

"I know, I just don't like to feel rushed in the mornings that's all." I sighed in exasperation.

"You know we could take a break."

"And do what, per say? The boys are probably already sleeping since after dinner here they can barely keep their eyes open." I laughed picturing Ron and Harry about to pitch over after the last of the treacle pudding.

"Well I had an idea, but you're going to have to trust me." She mentioned with a determined gleam in her eyes.

"I know that look. That's a look that terrifies me to no end."

"Well…you know I dislike Flem to no avail, however we went shopping with her near her parent's home in France when we went to pick her up with Bill. Now they were having some cosmetic potion free sampling and handing out samples left and right. So I was thinking maybe a new look to start the school year couldn't hurt right?"

"What exactly did you have in mind? And I want to see these "products" before you decide to test them out on my hair. OUR hair for that matter."

"Trust me, it came with directions, don't worry."

"That's comforting." I laughed and I watched her remove a container of jars from her desk drawer.

"So I take it free samples means that you only get a partial effect of the product, and not the full effect." I asked the girl beside me slyly.

"It would seem so. Though it does look nice, even if It's only a little change."

Ginny shrugged as we continued to look in to the mirror at the new results. Deciding to keep the volume, Ginny used the relaxer potion, a curling potion, and a highlight potion on me. The subtle desired results didn't seem like much, but the bushiness had reduced to waves, although the fullness was the same, and a slight blonde highlight around the crown gave the original brown a sense of depth to the thickness. It was subtle, but overall a nice change. Ginny opted to keep her color and highlight as well with a light blonde to bring out her sunny disposition. The only other potion she used was to increase the length so that it fell nearly to the small of her back when she was done and full of soft subtle layers.

"I love magic." She happily decreed as we both burst out in laughter.

"Girls. Bed!" A voice shouted from down the hallway.

"Yes mother!" The girl happily recalled back.

"I'm telling you he's up to something." Harry announced to the cabin of people on the Hogwarts Express.

"Dude you're paranoid. Just because he decides not to insult you for once, doesn't mean that he's up to something." Ron explained to his best friend.

"I'm going to get something to eat. Anyone want anything?" I asked the group of people wedged in on both sides of the compartment. There was Luna idly reading her father's magazine while wearing a pair of outrageous glasses, but this was nothing new. On her ears were her favorite radish earrings, and though her hair was down and covering most of her ear lobes, I could have sworn I saw the twinkle of stones further up her ear. Then there was the ever faithful and still slightly overweight Neville, cradling another one of his prized plants and talking eagerly to Ron about this year's Herbology class. Ron, the faithful loyal sidekick, had decided to pull a Bill over the summer and begin growing his hair long. The desired effect was supposed to be cool, but seeing as how he doesn't have an earring to back it up with, it looked merely like he forgot to get a haircut in a very long time. Then of course there was Ginny, the stubborn, strong willed younger sister who could hex your balls off before you ever got around to mentioning a single incantation. I had to admit the girl was talented with her hexes. And lastly there was Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived. Stress and worry lined his face as he attempted to get those around him to believe his theories. From the moment we met I took a great liking to this boy and the problems that he has faced over the years. I watched him struggle with love, sadness, pain, torture, and now with the weight of the world thrust impossibly on his fragile shoulders. Everyone was now calling him "The Chosen One", and he had been forced to grow up faster than any child should have to. He was my brother, my twin, my other half, and I would fight with my last dying breath to keep him alive and safe and happy.

"I'm going to meet Dean. See you at the feast." Ginny announced as she hopped over Luna and left the cabin to search for her boyfriend. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Harry following her every movement with a slight disconcerted look on his face. Could he?...na….she was just Ron's little sister to him.

"I guess I have to go meet with Professor Slughorn. I'll be back later." Harry mumbled dejectedly, knowing he had to but didn't really want to have lunch with the pompous man.

I walked behind the others as I sought out the witch who pushed the trolley back and forth. From each cabin happy sounds filled the air as people began reminiscing about their summers, boys, girls, new haircuts, gossip, and so on. From the confines of the train it didn't seem like there was a war brewing outside the comfort of this red train.

"I'll take a handful of chocolate frogs, cauldron cake, and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, please." I asked the elderly woman as I deposited the necessary coins into her hands. She smiled, nodded and proceeded to fill my order as I noticed a platinum head of hair passing by. Before I could stop it, the figure pushed passed and would have tripped if it wasn't for the closeness of the walls on either side to keep up his balance.

"Move it Mudblood." The voice of Draco Malfoy sneered angrily. I narrowed my eyes while taking hold of the food.

"In a hurry to join your Death Eater friends, Malfoy?" I asked with a smile in my voice, knowing that it would make him even angrier. He stalked closer till my back was against the wall and I kept a firm grip on my wand, pointed in a very precarious position just in case he tried anything.

"I'd watch what I'd say to me this year, Granger. Because it could be the last thing you ever say to a Pureblood." He threatened as he held his wand near my neck. People were now starting to open their compartment doors to see what the growling outside was going on about.

"I'd lower my wand if I were you, pureblood. Because one swift flick of this wand and you can kiss your future children goodbye." I whispered darkly in his ear. He narrowed his eyes and noticed his predicament before turning around to follow the other Slytherins back to their cabins.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked as he walked out of Slughorn's compartment a few minutes later.

"Just another altercation with the Slytherin Prince himself." I snorted angrily. Ever since day one of Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy had rubbed me the wrong way. The sad part is, however, that it wasn't because he called me a 'mudblood' nor was it because he made fun of my teeth or hair. Those things, sadly were true, and at least with the hair and teeth, easily correctible. The Mudblood comments didn't bother me as much as he hoped they would because for 11 years I grew up outside the world of magic, and not knowing what was supposed to be insulting or not, it never bothered me. What DID bother me was the way that he kept insisting that he was better than everyone else because of his name. Who cares! I mean really unless you really are a prince, a name means nothing. So why did his followers believe that the sun shone out of his ass every time he flashed that Malfoy smirk and declared himself a god among mortals? That is what truly bothered me.

"You head back to the compartment, I'm going to see what Malfoy is up to." Harry announced as I watched him walk towards the back of the train, taking his invisibility cloak out of his pocket as he continued so. I shook my head and went back to our shared compartment. Boys…


	3. Chapter Two: You Can't Always Get

_Chapter Two: You Can't Always Get What You Want_

"_No, you can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
And if you try sometime you find  
You get what you need"_

_-Rolling Stones_

"So Dumbledore is going to give you private lessons this year that is supposed to help you figure out how to defeat Voldemort?" I asked the dark haired boy as we lounged in our favorite chairs near the Gryffindor fire.

"He's showing me these…memories…from Voldemort's childhood. I don't know how that's supposed to help." He shrugged his shoulders as he turned towards his other friend, Ron, who was currently getting his face sucked off by Lavender Brown.

"You just had to put him on the team, didn't you?" I awkwardly laughed. Though it pained me to see the boy whom I was starting to have feelings for kiss another girl, I knew it wouldn't help Harry's quest for me and Ron to get into another one of our fights during a time when he needed us the most. I wasn't sure exactly what my feelings are towards my other best friend, but part of me couldn't help the green jealously that appeared every time I watched him kiss that…girl.

"Dumbledore mentioned something about Horcruxes. He says it's the only way to truly defeat Voldemort, destroying these pieces of himself that he left on Earth." Harry explained as the fire began to dwindle down. It was almost Halloween and the weather was already starting to chill much faster than usual this year.

"But if Voldemort truly wanted to find a way to live forever, then wouldn't he be searching for something more besides just a Horcrux? I mean, assuming that Dumbledore is right, then he can still be killed in the end."

"I guess. Maybe he didn't think anyone else would ever find out about them?" He answered uncertainly.

Something didn't seem to add up.

"Anyway, I still think Malfoy is up to something. He's not his usual stuck up self lately." I nodded in reply. There most certainly was something wrong with the blonde haired Slytherin, but I didn't want to get Harry's hopes up just in case he was wrong about him. We were twice wrong before about both Snape and Malfoy, no need to jump to conclusions.

"I'm not sure Harry. I think it's too soon to jump to conclusions until we have some more facts. So on a lighter note, what are you dressing as for the Halloween masquerade this year?" I asked with false optimism.

"No idea. Maybe I'll dress as a Death Eater and scare everyone." He laughed heartily. His smile vanished as he watched Ginny walk into the room on Dean Thomas's arm.

This year Dumbledore thought to organize a masquerade ball for 4th years and up as a chance to let people from every house mingle without the usual prejudices that separate each house. Professor Flitwick was in charge of teaching everyone a series of charms to slightly alter their appearance: hair, eyes, skin tone, etc. To me it seemed like a last chance at freedom before the impending doom of war started officially.

"I'm going to head to the library for a bit. I'll catch up with you later Harry."

The privileges of being a prefect and the top student in the school came with the ability to be out later than most of the other students. In truth I did want to get a head start on Professor Slughorn's potions essay, but in truth I really just wanted to find a quiet place to sit and think about everything that has been happening lately.

"You know if I didn't know you better I would think you were up to something, Gryffindor." A snarky voice mentioned from across the shadows of the narrow hallway.

"As if going to the library was a crime, _Slytherin._" I replied back with as much disdain as I could muster. Draco emerged into the dim light way and for the first time I was shocked by his appearance. He didn't have his hair slicked back as usual, nor did his clothes seem as pressed and elaborate as he usually wore them. He seemed…bothered…by the fact that she was there; which was unusual because no one ever questioned Hermione Granger walking towards the library.

"I'm sorry did you want something, Malfoy? Or are you going to just stand there and sneer at me the whole time. Because I do have other plans to enjoy my evening, thanks."

He narrowed his silver-blue eyes and ever so slightly walked forward until my back was pinned to the wall and he was only a few inches away.

"Afraid, Mudblood? Think your clever insults could save you from being in a Death Eater's presence? I'd watch my back if I were you." Once again I found my wand at my side and keeping an ever steady hand at its precarious position.

"I'd watch my balls if I were you." I mumbled in reply as he turned to walk back towards the staircases, in the direction of the seventh floor.

'Now what's he doing up there?' I pondered warily before turning back to head up to the Astronomy Tower, where I knew I could enjoy some peace and quiet at last.

"It's not fair!" A voice cried into the cold night air.

'For the love of…isn't there any place that one can find privacy around here!' I mentally blasted myself.

The girl hurdling the current injustices of the world in question was turned towards the edge of the Astronomy Tower and looking like she was about to jump. From the back I couldn't see who she was, nor could I distinguish the anger and frustration in her voice, though the tone seemed familiar somehow. The girl in question seemed to be clutching a journal or book of some sort in her hands and looked like she wanted to throw the thing as far off the tower as possible. I knew I shouldn't have interfered, but no one deserved to be in that much pain, no matter who they were.

"It can't be that bad." I soothingly responded to her wounded words, hoping she'd turn around and allow a helping hand from a stranger. Unfortunately it was the last person I expected to ever see, or help for that matter. It was none other than one of my worst enemies that had done nothing but insult my very existence for the past 6 years.

"What the hell are you doing here Mudblood!" Pansy shouted in anger and disgust. There seemed to be something truly troubling her, because she didn't automatically raise her wand and threaten to hex me. Not to mention she was alone without her posse of Slytherin skanks trailing her.

"I was trying to find some peace and quiet, but since that's not going to be possible, I guess I'll leave." What shocked me the most was that instead of adding more insults, she merely turned back around and screamed into the windy night sky. I knew I couldn't leave her in this much pain, even if it was my worst enemy.

"You know you could tell me what's wrong. It's not like I could tell anyone, because no one would believe me, since we don't like each other and would do anything to spread rumors and tarnish each others reputation." I have no idea what came over me at that moment, except that I couldn't leave her here alone and standing so close to the edge of the tower. I didn't think she would actually jump, but one strong gust of wind could knock her off and tumbling to her own painful death.

"Like I'd tell anything to a filthy little Mudblood." At the word 'mudblood' she seemed to choke on her tears for a second. 'Now that didn't seem right,' I thought questioningly. I then noticed a necklace casually draped around her pale neck. It was the most brilliant tiger's eye I had ever seen. Cut in an oval shape and gleaming in the minimal lighting and set around a pale gold chain. I had never noticed her wear it before, but then again I never stayed long enough in Pansy's presence to want to notice anything about her. It was here, alone in the dark sky that I truly took in her full appearance. She was noticeably taller than myself, by at least two or three inches, without heels on. Her face, though pug-like, wasn't all that unattractive, just uniquely different than most other girls whose noses weren't as upturned as hers. She grew her dark hair longer over the summer it seemed and was no longer framed against her face but pulled back in an elegant chignon. Razor straight bangs seemed to cover her eyes, which until now I hadn't noticed were a brilliant shade of amber that stood out against her pale skin and dark hair.

"Look, I just want to find some peace and quiet and currently you're taking up the last quiet place in this castle that I have access to. So the sooner we solve your unhappiness at the world the sooner you leave and the sooner I get my quiet thinking spot back." I almost saw the Slytherin girl crack a smile, but as soon as it appeared it was gone again.

"Cheeky little Gryffindor Mudblood. Alright, a truce for tonight only so I can yell in peace and get back to my common room. You are still my enemy in the morning." She sneered.

"You're still my enemy tonight, but even enemies can set aside differences to do whatever is necessary. So I ask you again, what could possibly be bothering the usually stony ice queen Slytherin."

This time she did smirk ever so slightly. The same smirk that I had seen Draco use a million times, usually before he was insulting myself or one of my friends.

"What if I told you I wasn't who I always pretended to be?" She asked uncertainly.

"I knew it, you're secretly a man." I joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

She stared, dumbfounded for a moment before bursting out in true laughter.

"You know if you weren't such a Gryffindor Know-It-All, I probably would have enjoyed being your friend years ago." Pansy answered truthfully.

"And if you weren't such a bitch all the time, I probably would have liked to be your friend too. But well, I'm the Mudblood and you're the Slytherin Princess and we're all the better for it. So why are you up here so late at night, and so obviously distressed?"

"Ever feel like your life was a complete lie?"

"Every day." I answered truthfully.

"I don't even know who I'm supposed to be anymore. I can't change who I am, it's in my nature, but at the same time I feel like it's all a lie."

"You're not making a lick of sense. You're also not going to tell me the whole story are you?" I asked the dark haired girl questionably.

"No."

"Then the most I can say to you is, you shouldn't have to feel you need to prove to anyone who you are. If this is you, the real you, then you have no one to answer to but yourself. It doesn't matter who your parents are, what bloodline you're from, or whom you hang around with as friends. However, if there is even a part of you that is the way you are because you feel you have to prove yourself, then I would suggest giving up the lie and try seeing how it goes being yourself for once."

Pansy stared at her quizzically, like she was weighing her options about what she wanted to say next and how to say it.

"What?" I asked after she didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then, quick as day her usual sneer was into place and her pug-like nose was once again in the air.

"Enjoy you're alone time, Gryffindor." She replied as she clutched her journal quickly to her chest and crawled back through the tower door.

"I'm so confused." I sighed into the night air. But one thing was for certain. She didn't call me 'Mudblood.' Another thing, and the one that kept me thinking long into the night, she definitely seemed shocked about my response to her.

'Now why would she get so peaked about that?'

"So what do you want to dress as?" Ginny asked excitedly as we planned for the upcoming Halloween masquerade ball this weekend.

"I'm not sure, Gin. I haven't given it much thought. Hey you're wearing your mother's ring!" I exclaimed in awe. It really was a gorgeous carnelian stone, one of the most beautiful I had ever seen before.

"I don't know, something possessed me to bring it this year. I normally hate wearing jewelry except for special occasions, but it feels…comfortable I guess. It's just a ring." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey girls. Anyone see Harry?" Ron asked as he plopped on the couch next to us. I shook my head at his obvious lack of manners when noticing two girls in a private conversation…oh well.

"I think he's at another meeting with Dumbledore." Ginny announced.

"Or he's at another Slug Club gathering." I laughed. Ron's face began to light up with a scowl that could match Malfoy's any day.

"If he was shouldn't you two be there as well."

"I claimed Prefect duties." I announced happily.

"Studying for OWLs." Ginny chimed in reply.

"Where's Lavlav?" I cooed to my friend, though it still pained me slightly to see him with another woman.

"Her and Pavarti are catching up on their 'girl time' I believe she called it." He muttered in disgust. 'Boys.' I sighed

"So what are you dressing as, Ron?" I asked the redhead curiously.

"Probably just going as a professional Quidditch player or something." He shrugged.

"Well I'm gonna go find Dean." Ginny announced as Harry walked into the common room. I couldn't help but notice his eyes following the red haired girl as she walked out of the portrait wall.

"Any news Harry?" I asked quizzically.

"Nothing much, just some more of Voldemort's memories." His voiced dropped in a hush whisper as he mentioned the memory of a young Voldemort and Professor Slughorn during Tom's school days.

The next few days passed in a blur of excitement as all the girls huddled around talking about their costumes and their dates. The only two people who didn't seem thrilled about the upcoming dance was Pansy, who still treated me as though I beneath her, but then I wasn't expecting miracles to happen after one night of civil discussion. The other unhappy face was that of Draco Malfoy who seemed to be paler than usual and also a lot thinner in the face. Noticing out of the corner of my eye he barely touched his food and spent most of his meals staring at the table deep in thought. It wasn't like him to be so quiet, and I wasn't the only one noticing anymore. Harry also kept an unseemingly close eye on Draco lately, and though he was certain that the Slytherin was a Death Eater, I didn't want to agree with his suspicions just yet. Draco may be up to something, but I could not allow Harry to get discouraged from his lessons with Dumbledore to start chasing Malfoy about the castle.

"Are you almost ready, Hermione?" Ginny asked as she placed her finishing touches on her transfigured mask. I had to admit Ginny's costume was both exotic and slightly revealing. Her straight red hair was charmed coal black and her normally light brown eyes slightly darker. Her skin has more of a tan, and there was no sign of freckles anywhere. Her outfit consisted of a thin white gown accented in gold and turquoise with two gold arm bands snaked around her upper arms. Her gold mask only covered part of her face, but did not hide the heavily outlined eyes.

"Nefertiti or Cleopatra?" I asked the girl in question. She laughed knowing that I had guessed somewhat correctly.

"Cleopatra. Tragic heroine who in the end couldn't get the guy. Sounds familiar huh? Anyway I didn't want to have to wear Nefertiti's head piece, too weighty." She smiled lightly.

"You look beautiful. Go ahead on without me, I'm still not done yet. I'll see you down there." I replied and continued to transfigure my own costume. I knew my idea was not as creative as Ginny's, however I though the end result was still quite nice. The royal blue dress was accented with silver straps and scooped low between her breasts. Normally the costume would have been too revealing for her to wear, but seeing as how no one would recognize her, she felt it safe to proceed with the idea. On her arm was a silver band and around her neck, blue stones accented along a silver chain. Her hair was charmed lighter and curled and pinned half up and half flowing down her back. Her eyes were accented in dark make up, more than the normal Hermione would wear of course. While simple silver ballerina heels adorned my feet. The simple silver mask hid enough of my face to not be recognized, and my eyes were charmed to a dark sea blue just in case anyone questioned my identity. Considering my namesake, it should have been no surprise that I decided on being Helen of Troy for the night.

People were filing in left and right, and for the life of me I could not recognize a single face in the crowd. Except of course that of Ron and Ginny since they had pre-warned me of their costumes ahead of time. I assumed the man that Ginny was currently dancing with, someone dressed up as a medieval king, was Dean her boyfriend, but in all honesty the point of the dance was to create interhouse relations and if that meant ditching your partner for the night to find someone else, then so be it. Everywhere I looked I saw some of the most elaborate costumes imaginable, and felt that if one could not identify another person because of their creativity with their costume, then we should all get Outstandings in Charms.

"Care to dance?" A voice asked from beside me. I didn't even see him approach. He was dressed also in Grecian, or possibly Roman clothes, though his had the air of sophistication and royalty about them. His hair was charmed a dark brown/black, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to be staring straight into my soul. I hesitantly let him take my hand and walk to the dance floor as though in a daze.

Now I'll admit I'm not the most graceful dancer in the world, for that I am forever grateful for magic and the charm I had placed on the shoes I was currently wearing. The man in front of me seemed to have been a natural, for I could tell that he truly knew how to dance, and didn't need any magic to help him in that department.

"You seem to be a natural, sir." I smiled up at his stoic face. His eyes then came down and pierced mine and I felt my breath hitch for just a moment.

"I'll admit you're not so bad yourself, miss." He smiled in reply, and I could have sworn that my head went just a little fuzzy at the sight. This boy, this man, was extremely handsome, and I couldn't tell if it was just the charms working or if it was because of something inside of him that tugged at me.

"The Great Hall looks lovely. It's nice to see everyone relax their guard and enjoy the night." I stated conversationally. The man seemed to stiffen for just a moment, but relaxed as he too took in his surroundings.

"It's easy to relax when there's masks in place to hide the real self behind." He replied lazily. His voice seemed familiar, but yet I could not figure out who the boy behind the mask was. He was tall, which wasn't surprising seeing as how most of the boys in class have hit puberty and shot up over the summer. The tone definition of his arms seemed to suggest that he was athletically fit, or at best kept in somewhat decent shape. Then again it could all just be the magic taking affect.

"Do you feel the need to hide behind a mask sir?" I asked jokingly before seeing the ice appear behind his eyes again.

"It's survival," he shrugged again.

"I'd hardly call that survival. To not be who you really are, to have to hide all the time…" I stated truthfully, concern flashing in my now blue eyes.

"Dear gods you're not a Gryffindor are you?!" He asked, half joking, half serious.

"What's wrong with Gryffindor's?" My back going up and my temper starting to flare.

"Too bloody noble for their own good. The world is not all sunshine and roses." He sneered as we continued dancing, closer to the patio and further from the crowd.

"I'm well aware that the world isn't perfect. So does that mean we give up on trying to make it a better place? Shouldn't we fight for what we want in life?" We stopped dancing and he just stared into my eyes without talking. Then in a move that shocked us both he took my hands and held them against his chest.

"It may seem that way to you, but in the end all we can do is try to survive, to the best of our abilities. What we want does not matter, what we need does not matter. The self is lost as the most basic primal need overruns us…"

"Survival." I stated lamely.

"I enjoyed your company. That is about the best compliment I can give you, Gryffindor. Sleep well little dreamer," and with a kiss on each hand he took off into the dark of the night. I couldn't do anything but stare as his turned back and wonder what the hell just happened to me.

The next night was a Saturday and I once again found myself heading up towards the Astronomy Tower to contemplate the last evenings events.

"I see we're about to make this a common routine, Gryffindor." A voice sneered from the edge of the tower. I recognized Pansy's dark hair flowing lightly in the cold wind and sighed that once again my night was not going to be quiet and peaceful. And what was with everyone calling me 'Gryffinor' all of a sudden?!

"This by no certainty means were friends, Slytherin." I announced begrudgingly. I took a seat alongside of the stone wall near the door I came in through and stared out into the vast Forbidden Forest.

"Wouldn't dream of it." There was a long awkward pause as we measured up one another about who would be the next to speak.

"Where did you get the necklace?" I asked after a few minutes time. She may not be a friend, and we were never going to talk like friends, but seeing as how we both needed solitude and the company of someone that didn't know a lick about you, we could at least move into a comfortable acquaintanceship.

"My mother, when I was born." There was an uncertainty in her voice that left room for a hundred questions. She seemed…bitter…by the fact that her mother gave her such a beautiful stone. The daughter of two pureblood wizards should not have seemed so unhappy to receive such a gift. Something didn't add up.

"Did you enjoy…"

"What are you playing at Gryffindor. I told you we're not friends." She shouted angrily.

"No, I told you we're not friends. But I can't just sit here with someone else and not say something. Especially when it seems like you need to let go of something so bad." I stated as I nodded towards the journal she was grasping in her hands.

"I don't have anything to talk about."  
"Could have fooled me," I commented humorously.

"You wouldn't understand. You'd go run off and tell your little blood traitor friends." She sneered. I was taken aback, she really did seem bothered by something.

"If I swear to you, in a truth ceremony, that nothing leaves the confines of this tower, would you tell me then?" I asked. Maybe it was my Gryffindor nature, but even my worst enemy I did not wish this much despair on. If it was bad enough to make the Ice Queen of Slytherin to want to come to the highest tower in school and sit among the edge wanting to jump, then it had to be pretty serious.

"Hold out your arm." She asked, and I hesitantly followed her example. I cringed somewhat when I saw the gold thread weave between both of our hands and we grasped each other pinky fingers. Leave it to magic to give 'pinky swear' a whole new meaning.

"Alright, do you swear that nothing we talk about ever leaves the confines of this tower or to anyone else's ears. Everything said here between us is in strict confidence and cannot be repeated without my permission. Pinky swear?" She asked hesitantly.

"Pinky swear." I replied and the gold thread joining our pinkies seemed to melt into our very skin.

"I'm not a pureblood."


	4. Chapter Three: Break On Through

_Chapter Three: Break on Through_

"_You know the day destroys the night  
Night divides the day  
Tried to run  
Tried to hide  
Break on through to the other side"_

_-The Doors_

Now there were a number of things running through my head about what she was going to confess. The first would be that she really wasn't as evil as she made herself out to be. The other was that she didn't love Draco like she prances around pretending every day. The other would be that she too is secretly a Death Eater and was sent here to kill me and other Mudbloods. However, no matter what possibilities I dreamed up, that was the last one I would have expected her to say.

"Well…" I started to say as she narrowed her amber eyes towards me, daring me to make fun of her.

"You're hardly the first Half-Blood to pass through Slytherin." I shrugged nonchalantly. It was true, Volemort himself was a Half-Blood and so were a number of other witches and wizards. Just like there were purebloods in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. It wasn't until she shook her head again that I understood what she truly meant, and saw the despair in her eyes.

"You're not…you couldn't be…but you're parents are purebloods!" I exclaimed and she narrowed her eyes at the tone of my voice. Surely this was a cruel twist of fate, or an immensely elaborate joke being played.

She held up the journal and in the light she could just make out the name "Violet Parkinson" on the cover in neatly ornate handwriting.

"Stole this from my mother's closet over the summer." She announced bitterly as though the very idea made her sick.

"It states how their own daughter died, and instead of admitting it to the rest of the society they found me, abandoned by my real mother because she didn't know anything about magic and she thought I was a freak. No one ever questioned the change because my mother also has dark hair and brown eyes." She clutched the journal tighter to her chest as though she was hoping for it all to be a bad dream.

"Well then there is still the possibility that you're a Half-Blood right? You're biological mother was obviously a Muggle because she didn't know anything about magical babies, but that doesn't mean your biological father isn't a wizard?" If someone would have said that in a million years I would be comforting Pansy Parkinson on the Astronomy Tower because she thought she was a Mudblood, I would have personally laughed in their faces.

"No way to prove it, Gryffindor." Well at least I now know why she stopped called me a Mudblood all the time, because she herself could very well be.

"It doesn't change anything."

"IT CHANGES EVERYTHING!" She screamed back in frustration. She truly looked broken, for the first time since I met her off the Hogwarts Express, she looked like a dethroned Queen that was about to crumble into herself.

"Why did she leave you the necklace?" I asked, trying to calm her down before anyone could be alerted to our presence.

"I don't know. She didn't leave a note or any instructions to my parents. All that was left in the basinet was me, a blanket, and this necklace. I don't even know what it is."

"Tiger's Eye. It's not rare, but the design of yours isn't something I've seen before. It's coloring is more intricate than anything else I've come across."

"You really are a Know-It-All." She smirked slightly. It was about as close to a compliment than anything that could come out of Pansy Parkinson's mouth before.

"Science was my favorite subject in grade school. Particularly Geology and the study of rocks and minerals. It's been awhile, but sometimes when I'm home for summer vacation I still like to visit museums or go out and try to find some myself. It's hard here in England, there isn't as much variety as say the States or in continental Europe." I explained. I could tell she didn't spend a lot of time around Muggles because she seemed overly confused about everything in the last minute that I said.

"If you say so." There was the trademark sneer in place again. However it wasn't her usual bitterness backing it up and though I could never truly understand the twisted inner workings of Pansy's mind, at least I could appreciate the fact that she could at least trust me enough to ask for my help when need be.

"So why me?"

"Because you're a Mud…Muggleborn, because you don't hold blood purity against anyone, and because you're…smart." She whispered the last part.

"So…"

"I want your help."

"My help? What do you want me to do?"

"I want to track down my birth parents. I want to know the truth. I want to know what this necklace means and why there wasn't an explanation when they left me." I thought about her offer. I already had my hands full keeping the boys afloat in class, monitoring Malfoy's sudden disappearances, as well as completing my own work. Not to mention that this was Pansy Parkinson, the girl who made my life hell for the last few years.

"Why should I help you?" I hesitantly replied.

"Because I think you want to know about the stone too."

Well she got me there. I was curious about it. Just like I was curious about Ginny's ring, but there was no questioning where that stone came from or why she had it. That was a family heirloom and probably old and riddled with Ancient magic from her ancestors. I couldn't help but think that I had read something before about stones used in magic. Sometimes reading so many books was a curse because you could never remember the specifics of where the information came from. I sighed, I already did a trust/truth binding spell with her, so I would be the only one with this information and I could not tell a soul. What could it really hurt?

"Alright I'll help you. Meet me in the library tomorrow after dinner. I'll put some charms up around the back corner near the Transfiguration section, so no one will see or hear us. Bring whatever materials you have started on and the password to get through the ward will be "Tiger's Eye". She nodded in affirmation before going back inside and down to her common room in the dungeons.

"Granger, what's gotten into you lately." I asked myself in a sigh. First dancing with an unknown man at the masquerade, and now helping an enemy find the truth about her life.

However, the arrangement could prove useful. Pansy was a Slytherin who spent most of her time drooling over Malfoy. If she knew anything about what was bothering him lately, then she may spill the beans. Just because I couldn't tell anyone, didn't mean that I couldn't personally stop him from doing anything evil. If it saved Harry the heartbreak of doing everything himself for once, then it would be worth the sacrifice.

"I'm miserable." Ginny sighed as she plopped down on my bed in between lessons the next day.

"You know you're never going to be happy until you're with Harry." I stated as a matter of factly.

"I can't just leave Dean for no reason. Plus I don't even know if Harry likes me like that. He's never seen me past being Ron's sister." She nearly cried in false despair.

"Look, you want my advice?"

"You're advice didn't work last time." She replied.

"Are you sure about that?"

"You told me to go out and date and see what my options were, and if Harry truly cared about me then he would get jealous and come after me himself."

"And you don't think it hasn't worked?"

"No…" The redhead replied uncertainly.

"Have you seen the glare he gives Dean when you're around? Because I have! He's completely miserable about your current dating partner and nearly snapped at Dean the other day in practice because of it!"

"Really?"

"Yes, and with Katie Bell returning to the team, he can honestly dump Dean off and spend more time with you. Watch and see."

"I don't know Hermione…"

"Trust me."

The next Gryffindor Quidditch game was still a few days away, but Ginny seemed to be in renowned spirits lately. On a spur of the moment decision she decided to tell Dean that they were officially over, which he didn't take too well but seemed to be expecting it either way. Harry, happier than I have ever seen him before, seemed to be walking on air after hearing the uplifting news. Ron and Lavender were still pretty inseparable, but that was to be expected, and me…well I spent my little free time tracking two Slytherins.

"There are potions to test blood, but it will be difficult to gather the necessary ingredients. I'm not even sure if Slughorn has everything that we would need, but it's worth a shot to try out." I told Pansy as we poured over numerous books weighing our possibilities.

"How long will it take to brew?"

"Total, about two months or so, maybe longer. Like I said they seem really advance and very tricky to brew, but if we can get all the ingredients and start as soon as possible, then we'd know not long after holiday leave." I replied as I kept skimming the ancient looking potions book.

"Will it help?" She asked uncertainly.

"It will at least decipher if there is any trace of magic in your lineage. It doesn't look like it can give specifics though. However if there is any trace of magic in either parent's line then at least you'll know you're not a true Muggle-born and that at one time in your family history someone had magic. It's a start at least." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Are you sure there wasn't anything else in your mother's journal about your adoption?" I asked the dark haired Slytherin. Once again we were hidden in the back corner of the library, covered thoroughly with enchantments so that no one could detect our presence or our conversation.

"Not really…" She seemed uncertain.

"I think they were on holiday in Italy. My family has a villa there. Everyone thought my mother just wanted to give birth in warmer climate, but the truth was she was getting over her despair at losing her baby."

"Well it's a start. If we know where they found you, then we can track down anyone who might have been around the orphanage where you were left." Of course taking a book out of Dumbledore's own book on this one. If it wasn't for Harry's lessons, the idea would have never arisen.

"You want to leave school and track down some Muggles who MAY known about my birth parents?" She asked quizzically. "When do you expect to do this, Gryffindor?"

"Holiday leave. Tell your parents you were invited to a friends New Year's party. I don't know about you but I'm 17 already and can apparate…"

"Legally?" She asked surprised.

"Well…no…I have to take those courses in the spring before I'm licensed…but that doesn't mean…"

"I never thought I'd see the day that Poster Child of Goodness would break the rules." Pansy laughed evilly.

"You'd be surprised." I mumbled under my breath, but couldn't help but laugh too.

"What about the potion?"

"I can get about half of the ingredients…" I started.

"I'll get the rest." She answered matter-of-factly. I wasn't sure if I should question "how" she would get them, but then again we were going to illegally apperate to another country in a month or so, so I wasn't really worried about illegal ingredients.

Silence followed for a few minutes as we gathered the books we had out to be placed back in their original slots. I looked over to see if I should even dare the question I wanted to ask her. Well here goes nothing.

"So you and Draco…?"

"Interested in the Prince of Slytherin yourself, Gryffindor?" She asked slyly.

"I just wondered, why the overly obnoxious fawning over him all the time?" I retorted.

"Because we're bethrothed."

'Oh.' Well perfect.

"He seems…bothered this year…" Hoping she would take the bait. Her shrewd eyes narrowed and I could tell my cover was nearly blown. Damnit! Why can't I have the stupid Slytherin slyness when it comes to answering questions!

"Wouldn't you be if you had his parent's." It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Do you…love…him." I asked uncertainly.

"You're pretty nosey for someone who is just 'mildly curious,'" she stated. "One would think you're more than just mildly interested in him."

"I'm helping you aren't I? So obviously I wouldn't want anything to happen to your…fiancé." I choked out.

"Listen, and listen hard, Gryffindor. Draco is my friend, and I would protect him at all costs. His family is not in good standing at the moment…"

"Yeh with Voldemort." I cheekily replied.

"Be that as it may, he is taking the punishment of his family's misfortune. You asked me if I love him, well…do you love your Gryffindor boys? Have you not grown up with them, experienced love, happiness, and sorrow with them? But would you really call that being 'in-love' with them, either of them?" She asked mildly. I could see a sliver of steel in her amber eyes as she towered over my smaller frame. The books lay forgotten on the floor.

"No, I don't love them like that. They are my brothers." I replied narrowly.

"Then there's your answer." She stated as she took her materials and walked out of the confines of the bubble room I had created. I waited a few minutes before following behind her and replacing my side of the books I had checked out.

I decided after my run in with Pansy for the day, to take a walk and finish patrolling the upstairs corridors. Sometimes being a prefect really sucked.

"The little lion out again after hours." Unfortunately being a prefect meant patrolling with other house prefects. Damn. Malfoy.

"What has you slithering about upstairs? I thought snakes like to stay closer to the ground." I retorted as I noticed that he had come in the direction of the Room of Requirement. Now what was he doing over there.

Now I love Harry, and I made a personal promise to help him whenever possible. But two Slytherin encounters in one day was just too much.

"Haven't seen you stalking around as usual, Malfoy. Someone would think you were…up to something…" I asked sarcastically, hoping to see a glimmer of truth at my words.

"Maybe I preparing for the day that Hogwarts can finally be rid of its Mudbloods." He sneered in reply.

"You know Harry thinks it was you that poisoned Katie Bell's necklace." There, a twitch in his wand hand. It was every so slight, but it was enough confirmation than I needed.

"I mean it's silly right, because you were in Hogwarts in detention." I smiled cheekily.

"Maybe I wasn't, maybe I did do it so I could get rid of another Mudblood in this school." He stalked closer and I felt my Gryffindor courage falter slightly. What game was I playing with this dangerous boy?

"Katie's a Half-Blood." I stated truthfully.

"Same difference. You're all tainted and shouldn't be here. Why are you here, Gryffindor." He came closer still. I steadied my feet, never backing down from a challenge. I punched him once, back in third year, he couldn't frighten me.

"Is that what you really believe? Or is that daddy's years of training showing through." I dared to ask. I don't know what made me think I had a death wish today.

"Is there a difference?" His evil smirk was back in place as his 6 foot frame towered over my own smaller one.

"Yes." I stated courageously.

"You don't seem convinced, Mudblood." His voice whispered in my ear. I cringed and waited for the next insult. Seconds later I realized he had already left.

"Such a weird day…" I muttered to myself as I finished my rounds and headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

The next few weeks blurred by fast and it wasn't long before the Christmas holidays were upon us. Harry was still attending his lessons with Dumbledore, while I attended my research gatherings with Pansy in an uncomfortable civilized arrangement that we had both come to. I had to admit I was shocked that she had managed to obtain the necessary materials needed for this complex potion, but I wasn't about to ask her how she got them. I really really didn't want to know. Harry and Ginny weren't quite going out yet, but they were closer than ever. Ginny already promised Dean to take him to Slughorns Christmas party as friends, forced Harry to invite someone else. He decided on Luna, one because she would shake things up, and two because she generally deserved to be invited to something for once in her life. I had already asked Cormac McLaggen for two reasons: it pissed Ron off, which gave me a thrill of joy, and two because he would be easy to ditch once he had a few drinks in him.

"Hey Harry, Luna." I stated as I noticed the pair arrive at Slughorns magically enchanted office space.

"Where's McLaggen?" Harry asked with a laugh as he took in my disheveled appearance.

"I don't know. Apparently he wasn't as easy to ditch as I had hoped. The boy gets on my nerves I swear!" I stated. I had to admit, Luna's outfit, while her own sense of uniqueness, actually worked for her. For once her hair was pinned back enough that I could glance at the earrings I had first noticed in the top of her ears. Two bright blue stones twinkled in the dim candlelight.

"Luna, what stones are those?" I asked genuinely curious at the star pattern the stones seemed to be arranged in.

"They're Moonstones! I found them after my mother's accident. Daddy says that they attract fresh water plimpies!" She stated excitedly. I sighed at her usual knack for knowing random unknown magical creatures that probably didn't exist.

"They're very pretty." I replied. Then something hit me that didn't seem right. She _found_ the earrings after her mother's death. Unless her mother was wearing them, it seemed odd that earrings would just appear out of nowhere. But then again you could only take what Luna said half heartedly because you could never be certain if it was the truth or not.

Moonstones, Tiger's Eye, Carnelian…something familiar…something missing…I should know this.

"What is the meaning of this!" She heard a shout from across the room and noticed that the caretaker was dragging in a reluctant platinum haired blonde by the back of the collar. I narrowed my eyes as I caught his silver glance in my direction and watched his trademark sneer come into place. I couldn't hear all of the discussion, only noticed when Snape dragged him back into the hallway and Harry suddenly disappeared.

I couldn't let him ease drop alone, so I tailed Harry ever so slightly, which was extremely difficult considering he was in the invisibility cloak. The best I could cast was a Disillusion charm. Mad Eye would be proud.

"I can help you." The threatening voice of the former potion's master hissed.

"I don't need your help." Malfoy replied in anger and resentment. Defying his mentor? His Godfather? Now that couldn't mean anything good. I knew he would be back to the Room of Requirement later that night and I had to know what was going on.

Certain that Harry had left to go back to Gryffindor Tower, and keeping as close to the shadows as possible, I made it undetected to the 7th floor.

"You're getting to be as sneaky as a Slytherin, Gryffindor." A slightly unsteady, yet snarky voice revealed from the other end of the hallway.

"What are you doing in there? What's going on with you lately?!" I demanded from the tall blonde haired man.

"Aren't we a little demanding?" His trademark smirk was once again in place.

"Stop hiding behind your mask of indifference Malfoy. Something's bothering you and I think it's something big…" Suddenly he grabbed my arms, too tightly, and had me pinned up against the wall.

"What did you say?" He was practically foaming at the mouth he was so angry.

"I said stop hiding behind your mask of…" But he wouldn't let me finish. A look came into his eyes, a look I had never seen before and for the first time in my life I was truly afraid of the boy in front of me.

"No."

"No what?"

"I refuse to believe it." He was muttered something under his breath and if he didn't let go of my arms in the next few minutes I was going to kick him in a place where I knew would permanently bruise his ego.

"What are you even talking about?" I shouted at him, hoping a teacher wouldn't come by and notice are precarious state, or maybe I did hope someone would show up so that he would let go of his death grip.

His piercing silver-grey eyes then bore straight into my own brown ones and I had the feeling that he was having some sort of breakdown. There was anger, pain, and a thousand other emotions floating in their bright depths that left me even more confused. His hands released my arms suddenly and swallowing my pride I refused to rub the burn off that his grip had left. I knew I wouldn't get any straight answer out of him tonight, so with utter defeat I began walking back to the common room. I didn't hear the footsteps, or the muttering until he was once again right behind me. Once again gripping my arm.

"Malfoy so help me if you don't let go this instant I'm going to hex your balls off." I threatened with my best glare. The one usually reserved for Harry and Ron when they've screwed up and expect me to cover their essay mistakes.

I swore I didn't drink more than one small glass of wine, but being drunk was the only excuse I could come up with for the next moment's happenings. He kissed me. By god I swear the idiot boy kissed me because I can call it nothing else except a kiss. It wasn't sweet, it was romantic, it was greedy and final and demanding, and fast. If I would have blinked I would have missed it.

"Sleep well little dreamer."

Oh hell no.


	5. Chapter Four: Pinch Me

_Chapter Four: Pinch Me_

"_It's the perfect time of year  
Somewhere far away from here  
I feel fine enough, I guess  
Considering everything's a mess.  
There's a restaurant down the street  
Where hungry people like to eat  
I could walk, but I'll just drive  
It's colder than it looks outside."_

_-Barenaked Ladies_

Once upon a time there was a little girl who one day wanted to grow up and be a doctor. She was shorter than most girls her age, and started school younger than most of her fellow students, so with those two things going against her, she struck out to be the very best. One day and crazy old man came to her door and changed her very life. But he did not change her spirit, and so this little girl, who was behind her fellow students in the ways of magic, struck out to be the very best. Then along came a boy and screwed the whole thing up…

"I'm telling you I heard him talking to Snape. Snape offered to help him and he told him it would be his glory, his reward." Harry announced to me and Ron as we waited to leave for the holiday period.

"Harry, I don't think you should be worrying about Malfoy at the moment. You have to concentrate on your task for Dumbledore and destroying the horcruxes." I sternly replied to my friend. It killed me to act like we didn't believe him, but I had everything under control and I wanted Harry to focus on his job so I could focus on mine. Whatever that was anyway.

"Are you coming with us to the Borrow, Hermione?" Harry asked anxiously.

"I want to stop home first, then I'll be over." I still couldn't tell them about my wiping my parents memory, it was too much to deal with on my own, let alone to let Mrs. Weasley coddle me and tell me how much I'm like a surrogate daughter to them. I just wanted to make sure they were alive and okay before I turned around and joined the rest of the family for Christmas, then sneaking back in time before New Year's to join Parkinson for our little "road trip."

"We'll see you there then!" Ginny happily announced as she walked over to Harry and Ron who were already walking towards the Hogwarts Express. I knew Mrs. Weasley would insist on waiting for my parents to pick me up, so I had to make sure to sneak away far enough from the rest of them.

"I hate the holidays." I grumbled as I grabbed my trunk to leave. Hoping that I'd still be around to come back after Me and Pansy's Excellent Adventure.

"There's the Gryffindor spirit." A voice sarcastically replied from behind me. Malfoy. I haven't seen him since that fateful night after Slughorn's Christmas party and I wasn't sure what there was to say. I met the most incredible man at the masquerade ball, and fate slapped me in the face and gave me Malfoy instead. Damn fates…

"Don't you have some Death Eater gathering to attend Malfoy." I muttered in response as I turned around to face him. The train was beginning to move and most of the students were already in their cabins waiting eagerly to see their families.

"Only if you'll be my guest of honor." He retorted with an evil grin. I wasn't sure if he was serious or joking, either way the comment had me slightly terrified.

"Look ferret…"

"No, _you_ look Gryffindor. Next time you want to chase me down for some entertainment, wear something revealing and green and maybe I'll oblige." He smirked again.

The nerve of the boy to think I was the one to initiate that damn kiss!

"You've got some nerve ferret boy if you think for ONE second that I would ever be interested in a sleazy man-whore such as yourself!" I seethed in replied and continued to pull my trunk the rest of the way up the stairs.

"I'm not a man-whore, Gryffindor. Just experienced. And it's not my fault you can't keep your hands off me." The evil gleam was back in his eyes as he once again grabbed my arms and placed another bruising kiss on my unexpected lips.

"Ugh! Men!" I cursed to no one but myself as I sought out to find Ginny and the others.

"What are you doing Ron, shouldn't you be with Lavender?" Ginny asked as Ron re-entered our cabin. Though the whole bench was open, Ginny seemed to be sitting closer to normal to Harry then she normally would have. I smiled to myself at their slow progression and wondered if I would ever feel for a boy the way Ginny felt for Harry.

"I had to escape, she was suffocating me I swear!" He mentioned while slightly out of breath.

"It was probably Nargles. They're all over the mistletoe in the walkway. Best you hide before they find you." At this we all glanced at Luna's talent for making a room silence faster than anyone I knew.

Ron laughed. "Yes. It was probably the Nargles." He enlightened her and took a seat between the two of us. I couldn't help but notice the way Ron glanced over and smiled at the airy blonde before shaking his head and pulling out his copy of "Quidditch teams of Europe."

"You'll owl us if you're coming, right Herimione?" Harry asked uncertainly. For a boy who has undergone so much transformation in his life, it was nice to see that there was still some innocence about him that Voldemort and his death eaters could not beat out.

"We'll see, I want to spend as much time with my parents as I can. I'll let you know." The lies seemed to be coming easier as I repeated them. I really did want to join them, but it would just be depressing not to be able to spend it with my own. It was for the best though; if no one knew who they were, how I was connected to them, then they were safe from Death Eater's and from the rest of the wizarding world.

I waited until I could see Harry, Ginny and Ron meeting up with Ron's twin brothers Fred and George, who were in charge of picking them up and bringing them home. After counting to ten I grabbed my own trunk and proceeded out of the cabin.

"Enjoy your…vacation." A familiar deep voice shouted as he grabbed his own luggage and proceeded off the train. See an opportunity to apparate I closed my eyes and envisioned my parents house in the quiet suburbs of London.

Something was wrong. I could feel it the moment I had arrived. It was quiet, too quiet for my outdoor loving parents. The snow wasn't shoveled, the car was still in the driveway, and the newspaper seemed to be piled up on the front stoop.

'Maybe they did leave for warmer climate, like I urged them too.' I thought sadly to myself, knowing that if they left I would probably never see them again, having no idea where they could have moved to.

"At least I had a spare key still." I shrugged. My dad's car was still in the driveway, so I knew they hadn't sold the place, but they could be renting it out to another couple, maybe someone who was on vacation…

The door opened with a creek, something only heard in a horror movie, and a feeling of dread filled my veins. If they were dead there would be a Dark Mark over the house. If they were dead there would be some sign that the Death Eaters would want to leave to show their pride in their work. If they were dead the Ministry would have told me by now…

"Oh God!" It wasn't as though I hadn't prepared myself for this moment. Being friends with Harry all these years left some suspicions that one day they could track my family down to get to me and through me to get to Harry. It didn't make the moment any easier however.

"I'm so sorry. So sorry. So so so sorry." I kept muttering to myself as I saw the unmoving bodies laying silently across the living room floor. At least it looked quick, at least they hadn't suffered. I should have made them leave when I erased their memories. I should have erased their memories when I became friends with Harry Potter. So many 'should haves.'

They say the first 24 hours of despair are the worse, then denial sinks in, then acceptance. I left messages with their friends, their work, their lawyer. I organized the funerals quietly for close friends only. I sold the house because I knew I couldn't afford to pay the bills while away at school, and quite honestly I didn't want to be constantly reminded of how I killed my loving parents. Any personal items worth keeping I shrank to fit into my bag for future use. It was so small I almost missed it, but going through my mother's jewelry I noticed a bracelet that I swore I had never seen before. Then again how well did I know my own parents anymore…I spent more time away from then these last few years then actually WITH them. The silver bracelet was simple in design and surrounded by pale green stones. I placed in my carry-on bag and walked back downstairs. The only thing left to do was leave…

The tears wouldn't flow, I couldn't get angry, sad, nothing. It was a straight fact, I killed them. I may not have raised the wand that stopped their hearts, but my choices had left them where they are today: underground.

No one could know. That much was certain. No one in the Ministry, no one from school. I would act as though I spent the holidays with my parents and no one would question anything more from me.

The only option left was to find either a Muggle or Wizard hotel to stay in until the ill fated trip with Pansy to Italy arrived. Wizarding hotels were out of the question due to the delicate nature of the war at the moment, so the only option left was to find a hotel.

"Merry Christmas to me…" And then the tears came.

"What bug crawled up your ass, Gryffindor?" The Ice Queen herself asked as we arrived to our agreed upon destination. Pansy lived in the west of England not far from Wales, she agreed to meet up in a Muggle town not far from her home, and quiet enough that I could apparate without alerting the locals.

"Are you ready to go or not?" I asked, not in the mood to deal with her bullshit this morning. I couldn't even remember why I was helping her do this in the first place. Who cared about a potentially magical necklace? Was it helping me discover what Malfoy was doing in the Room of Requirement? Not really. Was it helping us find a way to destroy horcruxes? Certainly not.

"Happy holiday was it then?" She happily stated. I couldn't tell if it was the excitement of the trip, or the fact that she was reveling in my bad mood.

"So here's the game plan. You're family's villa is near Gallipolli. There's a number of church's in that area where your mother probably dropped you off initially. We'll start with the closest one to the place and go from there."

"Do you think this will work?" If I didn't know her any better I would say she was genuinely worried about finding the truth about her past out.

"No, but it's worth a shot until we can get the potion finished." I sighed in response. We were going to apparate directly onto the villa with the hopes that no one would recognize. Since Pansy now had no idea when her birthday was, she had to go by the one her parent's gave her which wouldn't be for another month or so. It therefore was up to me to alter our appearances so no one would recognize us while we were there. Well, at least my appearance, we needed her to stay as natural as possible in case someone would recognize her looks.

"I think we'll just alter your hair length, slight bone structure, and darken the eyes. You'll still look like you, but no one at first glance would know it was you." I said as I muttered the necessary charms on Pansy first.

"What about you?" She asked. "You need to look like a pureblood, just in case they find me." She nervously replied. 'Was this the same Pansy I've known for 6 years almost?'

I conjured a mirror and handed it to Pansy to hold in front of me. I started with the hair which I charmed straight and bright blonde. The eye color I kept slightly the same with the only difference of adding more hazel to the brown then I currently have.

"Clothes." She stated matter-of-factly.

"We're going as Muggles though." I replied to her irritably.

"Pureblood witches, in Muggle attire, would never be caught dead in jeans." This is why I was grateful to be a Muggleborn. I looked at my comfortable jeans and red sweatshirt and thought about what I have seen the Pureblood Witches at the Hogwarts Express wear. Usually they had on silk designer pants with a tasteful blouse or blazer. So basically I had to look ten years older then what I was. Thinking back to the summer's I spent at my parent's house and the fashion magazines that my mother was so fond of…I did my best to change the outfit into something a celebrity would wear.

The black pants felt like silk on my skin, and though uncomfortable, the heeled boots made me look two inches taller than my usual short frame. The top was green, because I knew Pansy would demand it so, with a matching black jacket to keep off the chill of winter.

"Who knew under that quiet Know-It-All exterior lay all that useful fashion knowledge." She smirked in a typical Malfoy fashion.

"Shut it Syltherin." But I couldn't help but grin, the clothes really did look nice if I do say so myself.

The Parkinson villa was nothing short of extravagant, and I knew instantly why Pansy's mother would come here for some privacy after such a terrible and painful experience. The house sat on the edge of the clear blue Mediterranean ocean. We couldn't enter the grounds per se, otherwise the protection wards would be alerted to our presence, and we really didn't want to alert Pansy's parents that we were down here. Especially since they thought she was at Millicent Bulstrode's New Year's Party.

"So how much Italian do you know?" I asked jokingly, though very serious.

"I can get by. We come here every summer for about two weeks or so. My parents hate going into the Muggle towns and villages, but as I got older and allowed more freedom I would occasionally venture in. You?"

"I only fluent in French and Latin. I think the only Italian I know is compliments of a restaurant menu." We decided to walk to the closest town near Gallipolli before hailing a cab or renting a car.

"You can drive right?" She asked uncertainly.

"Benefits of being a Muggleborn." I smiled reassuring at her.

"These shoes were not made for walking." She sneered as we were still a mile or so off from the closest town.

"Then your parent's shouldn't have built their damn house so far away." I replied back. I couldn't keep the laughter back any more.

"What's so funny, Gryffindor?" Amber eyes narrowed at my uncontrollable laughter.

"If you would have asked me last year that this was how I would be spending my winter holidays, I would have sent them to St. Mungo's for a permanent room on the Spell Damage wing." I had to grab my side for I was laughing so hard. She looked and her surroundings, then at her present company, and joined in the laughter. No, we could never be friends, but at least we could come to an understanding together.

"Don't forget our names while were here." I mentioned as we began to enter the more populated parts of town.

"Yes, Helen." She smirked as though part of some inside joke. I hoped she wouldn't remember my Halloween costume and put the two and two together.

"And you're Pandora?" I looked quizzically out at her.

"Fitting isn't it. Helping release all the evil in the world?" She stated.

"No offense but if you're our world's _hope_ then we are definitely screwed." I laughed again as heads turned in our direction. We approached the first chapel in the area and began our search from there. Beside me Pansy was visibly shaking but kept her head held high and never wavered her step.

"It's hopeless!" The whining that I used to hate so much in her voice was back as we left out third church, and zero news. The sun was going to start descending soon and I knew we couldn't chance staying here too long the next day.

"Listen. Let's get a room and try again in the morning. There's still a few more we have run into yet. We knew it was a long shot trying this." I could hear the celebrations already starting in the town as people began toasting to the New Year. Pansy sneered at the idea of sharing a room for the night, and quite honestly it wasn't on my to do list as well, but if she showed up at home now her parents would get suspicious.

There was a small inn not far from where we stopped and luckily this place was not popular enough to be overly crowded for the holiday. The room was pretty…small…but comfortable for the price and thank the powers that be that there were two beds.

"Where are you going?" I asked as Pansy grabbed her room key and headed out the door.

"Enjoying my holiday." She replied and took off towards the sound of fireworks and parties below.

This is so now how I planned to spend my holiday. A New Year, a new life...new battles, new evil, new…friends?...no…Pansy isn't a friend.

The door creaked open somewhere around 3 or 4 in the morning and I knew it was Pansy arriving back from a night of drinks and festivities.

"Psst…Granger…you awake?" I could tell she had a few too many cocktails, and though I really just wanted to go back to sleep, I knew she wouldn't be happy until she got whatever she wanted to say off her chest.

"Am now." I groaned into the white cotton pillow.

"You know all those years ago when you were just an obnoxious bushy haired know-it-all? Always pretending to be better than everyone else…"

"Does this story have a point Pansy?" Wanting to know why I was awake only to be insulted for it.

"I always thought you and Potter had a thing going, you know. It's uncanny how close you two are."

"Draco anyone?" I retorted. The drinks made her giggle some more…the sound was slightly disconcerting.

"Touche. Still I figured you were all brains and him all 'I'm gonna go out and save the world.'"

"Ron's the same way." I replied again.

"But I don't think that's who you belong with. You need someone who can keep up with that brain of yours. Not to mention I don't think you're as innocent as you always seem to be." She replied slyly. Now my attention was perked. What the hell was she rambling on about.

"From the time I was two I was engaged to Draco. Our parent's constantly had each other over at the others house all the time over the summer and during the holidays. We're supposed to get married the day after graduation."

Part of me felt sorry for Pansy. Growing up in Pureblood society with its medieval rules and customs about marrying rich and taking over the family business and whatnot.

"The thing is. The more time you spend with someone when you're young like that, the more you think of them as a surrogate sibling and not as the person you're supposed to marry, have sex with, start a family with…die with." The last part was whispered so quietly I nearly missed it.

"I can't imagine not having the freedom to choose my own fate, Pansy." I attempted to sooth the unhappy girl in the bed beside me.

"I think you would be better for him." She sighed as sleep began to fog up her mind. 'What?'

"Me and…the ferret?" I asked shocked beyond belief that she would suggest such a ridiculous possibility. Unless…no…she couldn't have known about the masquerade.

"He needs someone like you…someone that hasn't been raised under his parent's watchful eyes, someone good…someone completely opposite of him." By now she seemed more asleep then awake but I couldn't help keep her talking, and hoping she wouldn't remember a lick of this in the morning.

"And who do you deserve Pansy?" I asked quietly.

"Me…I deserve to be alone…"

Full-screen

Chiesa Di Santa Maria Della Purita'Address: . It was a small church not far from our room and the next on our list. I thought to let Pansy sleep in and sleep off the hangover a little longer, so after transfiguring my travel clothes once more (so as not to look like I wore the same thing two days in a row), I began walking to the destination.

The place seemed simple, but still elegant as most Roman Catholic churches do in Italy. I walked in silently so as not to disturb the Mass going on in the main room and knelt in front of the rows of unlit candles. Placing a few coins in the small box I grabbed the stick and lit two candles for my parents, then two more for Harry's parents. I lowered my head and couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

"I didn't know you were religious." A quiet voice asked from beside me. Shocked to find Pansy awake and kneeling inside of a church.

"I'm not, but my parent's were. I thought you'd sleep in some more." I commented as I watch her also make a donation and light a single candle.

"Who are you praying for?" Not meaning to be nosey, but curious at how she knew the customs of Muggle prayer.

"My mother's soul. I'm praying that she had a good reason to give me up." I stared dumbfounded. The hurt in Pansy's eyes was evident, but now was not the time or place to ask her such intimate questions.

"Bella, I knew you would return some day." A voice happily announced from behind us. A short matronly nun grabbed Pansy in a tight hug and took her face between both of her knarred palms.

"You seemed to have never aged a minute. I'm sure you are most curious about how your daughter is doing?" She asked. Pansy continued to stare at the older woman as though she was crazy, so I decided to step in in her place.

"Excuse me, sister, do you know her mother?" I asked the cooing nun. Pansy's eyes grew wide as she realized our discovery.

"You're her daughter? Yes the resemblance is quite remarkable, mother to daughter."

"Is there anywhere we can talk privately?" I inquired.

"Yes, out in the garden where we won't disturb the parishioners."

"You knew my mother? Is this where she left me?" Pansy asked uncertainly. The pain was evident in her eyes; I don't think she ever actually considered us finding out anything significant on this trip.

"The poor young woman, barely older than yourselves. She had you wrapped in a white blanket and mentioned that she could not care for you any longer. She claimed that you were…different…special…and she had no home or job to raise you at. You two look remarkably alike though. I haven't seen her since and I'm not certain she is even still alive, child. So I stood there holding you out in the garden when this extraordinary woman appeared in the garden with me. She looked at the tiny bundle in my arms and asked to hold her. She looked…sad…but holding you brought a new light to her eyes. I asked her if she had any children and the light flickered back out of her face. She wanted to know if you had a home, and I mentioned how you were just recently delivered and she offered to take you right then and there."

"You didn't require a background check, get references, a name even?" I asked incredulously. How can someone just walk away with a child.

"I…don't remember."

"Mum obliterated her memory, or at least altered it so she could leave without having to ask pesky questions." Pansy replied and I knew then she was probably right. A woman in so much pain from a child's death would want to replace her as quickly as possible, even if it meant using magic on a nun.

"Do you…remember her name. The birth mother?"

"No, but she had the most exotic look about her. Perfect bone structure, long dark hair, bright gold eyes; I'd say she was probably a mix of European and Middle Eastern descent maybe. She spoke impeccable Italian though."

It wasn't much, but at least it was some type of closure to Pansy. Her mother was definitely a Muggle, otherwise she herself would have altered the nun's memories or have used magic to place her daughter in a good home before taking off. There was still no information on the father, but that's where the potion would have to come in.

We apparated back to the town we originally left, and all around were the leftovers of last nights festivities.

"The potion should be ready a few weeks into next term. I'll let you know when it's time." I took a step forward, ready to apparate to the Burrow when I felt a hand on my arm.

"Thank you." It was probably the most sober and sincere thing I had ever heard out of the mouth of Pansy Parkinson.


	6. Chapter Five: The Great Escape

_Chapter Five: The Great Escape_

"_Throw it away_

_Forget yesterday_

_We'll make the great escape_

_We won't hear a word they say_

_They don't know us anyway_

_Watch it burn_

_Let it die_

_Cause we are finally free tonight."_

_-Boys Like Girls_

"Sucks you couldn't make it till the end of holiday." Ron announced as he stuffed his face with some licorice wands. I laughed, I swear the boy never stops eating.

"Sorry, it was a busy vacation." I smiled at the cabin of friends.

"Were your parents happy to spend the whole vacation with them?" Ginny asked as I noticed her foot inching closer to Harry. My parents…I forgot all about them during the expedition to Italy and back. A wave of nausea hit and I had to breathe to keep my food down. Plastering on a happy face I glanced at the redhead in question.

"Yes, but there was so much to do we barely saw each other." If anyone thought the statement was odd, they didn't comment, to which I was grateful. It wasn't a lie, per se, more like a partial twisting of the truth. I couldn't burden them with my problems, which at the moment seemed to be astronomical. But there was Harry to think about, and we had to be strong for him. When it was time for the truth to be revealed I knew that him more than anyone would understand, like an initiation into some 'dead parents club'.

"Me and father had a wonderful time picking Ladylilles down by the river." Luna announced happily to the rest of the group as the train proceeded away from the station. Too used to Luna's make believe world of flowers and creatures, we all seemed to just nod and go with it.

"Sounds wonderful, Luna." Ron exclaimed, smiling at the pale blonde. Whatever flower could possibly grow in ten inches of snow, I'll never know.

"What is that around your neck?!" I shouted looking over at Ron's neck and the atrocious metal object around it.

"It's Lavender's Christmas gift." He mumbled under his breath. I held back the laugh I knew was working its way up my throat for the sake of our friendship for sure.

The rest of the ride was explaining the antics of a traditional Weasley Christmas along with the visitation of Remus and Tonks among others. Harry had told Arthur his suspicions of Malfoy, and Remus confirmed that they know the Dark Lord has given Malfoy a dangerous task to complete.

"Told you I wasn't making it up." Harry muttered under his breath. Beside him Ginny looked down at her hands, as if afraid to answer.

"I never doubted you Harry. I just didn't want you getting involved and forgetting Dumbledore's task. Snape is a member of the Order, he's probably responsible in handling Malfoy's situation." I replied. It didn't sooth him, but his sneer was less Malfoy like and more like his own tragic war hero face. I couldn't very well tell him I have been tailing Malfoy for months now, and 'oh by the way I'm on a somewhat delusional friendship sort of thing with his sort of fiancé.' Nope, best to keep that to myself for once.

Classes seemed to dwindle down as more parents pulled their children out of school. It seemed never a week passed without hearing something tragic in the Prophet. It seemed the only person who didn't seem as effected with the war broiling around them was Luna, but then again that wasn't a shock. My thoughts went back to the bracelet I took from my mother's room while packing. I had never seen it before, but somehow the color stones looked familiar.

"I should just ask him out right." A voice announced as my door went flying back against the wall. Guess no time for research tonight.

"You want my honest opinion?" I asked.

"Yes." She seemed overly confident.

"You should have asked him ages ago. You know Harry. He's slow on the uptake. You'll be thirty before he gets the courage to ask you." I replied, the redhead giggled merrily and with a determined look stood back up off my bed and marched off in the direction of the common room.

"I'll do it after the next Quidditch match. Yes I believe that's the perfect time." I shook my head and sighed. A flare of smoke erupted from the end of my want. I guess there's definitely no chance of researching tonight.

_P_

_It's time._

_H_

Borrowing one of the school's owls so as to remain anonymous I walked back from the owlery and towards the direction of Moaning Myrtles bathroom. Thank goodness for ghosts otherwise I'd never have gotten away with brewing illegal potions, right?

The door flung open with such ferocity that if I didn't know the taller girl's strength any better, I could have sworn she'd have knocked the thing off the hinge.

"What do I need to do?" She asked while watching the silver color potion swirl before her.

"A few drops of blood." At the mention of blood, Pansy visibly cringed but shook her head in affirmation. Taking off her Prefect's badge she held the sharp pointed end against her finger and closed her eyes against the prick of pain. Three small drops of blood fell into the cauldron, which now turned from a pale silver to a murky white.

"Now what?" She asked anxiously.

"We have to wait a few minutes while the blood mixes thoroughly with the other ingredients. If closer the ancestry of another magical person, the brighter the color will appear. The initial color will turn to a pale lavender. If your father was a wizard, then the color will change to a dark purple. If it's one of your grandparents, then a slightly lighter shade of purple, and so on. There, there's the original pale purple it's supposed to take as the ingredients interact." I mentioned, as it looked verbatim from the picture in the potion book.

"I'm nervous. I shouldn't care, I was raised a pureblood and no one need know the difference." She haughtily announced, reverting back to her former snobby self once again. I could tell her heart wasn't in the conviction though.

"It matters to you. It'd matter to anyone. Everyone wants to know where they came from, who they are and such. It might not change anything in your life, but at least it gives you the truth." Fifteen minutes passed and slowly the potion began changing ever so slightly. By the end of the hour it only darkened by about a half a shade. Pansy's face fell.

"At least you know. And at least it shows you that somewhere around your grandparents or great grandparents, someone had some form of magic in them. Just because it's been diluted over the years doesn't change the matter. You can still claim witch blood truthfully." I tried to cheer her up. I don't know why I was trying to cheer my quasi-enemy friend up, but I didn't want her to go back to the days of staring off the Astronomy Tower like it was her only salvation in life.

"He'll never accept me now." I heard her mumble in despair as she reached for her necklace in desperation.

"Malfoy?" I asked but she kept silent as the tears fell down her pale cheeks. Not knowing how one comforts their enemy-friend I decided to clean up the potion and head back to Gryffindor Tower.

"You know if he truly loves you, he won't care." It was the best words of comfort I could muster at the moment. I saw her nod ever so slightly in response. Hey, it was something.

"Gryffindor?" I stopped as my hand reached for the door, but not turning around because she would not want me to see her tears.

"I…"

"You're welcome." I replied knowing what she wanted to say, but knowing her too well to know her pride would never let her admit her gratitude.

Deciding it was a good night to finally do my prefect duties and patrol the corridors, I headed upstairs to check if Malfoy was once again in the Room of Requirement. I was nearly there when the sound of male voices and spells stopped me in my tracks.

"Death Eater!"

"Half-Blood!"

I knew those voices, who didn't nowadays. Harry and Malfoy were constantly at each others throats since day one and it wasn't a surprise to hear them fighting at any and all hours of the day. However I knew Harry was ever so trusting of his new Potion's book that the Half-Blood Prince had left for him and he would try out a number of unknown spells in it. Running as fast as I could I entered the boys lavatory in time to get between two curses.

"Sectumsepra!"

"Crucio!"

How stupid and foolish my idea had been as pain and unconsciousness took over.

They say when you are so close to death you see a beautiful white tunnel where the faces of your loved ones appear and lead you to a better place. Call it heaven, call it nirvana, Valhalla, Elysium Fields, it doesn't matter because it all comes down to the same thing in the end. A place of peace, ultimate peace, where war cannot touch you, pain cannot touch you, crazy enemy-friends cannot bother you, psycho-enemy crushes don't stalk you. Instead of a white tunnel I was in a forest.

"What happened to the white tunnel?" I asked the quietness around me.

"Sorry we don't do white tunnels here." A voice happily replied in the distance. There was a woman, with brown hair and brown eyes and covered in a very thin white gown sitting near a pool of water and petting a lion beside her. A LION? What the hell…

"I think I'd rather have the white tunnel, ma'am." I nervously replied, but the large cat neither moved nor glanced in my direction.

"Aren't lions native to grasslands? Warm deserty climates and such?" Thinking of nothing else to say I figure babbling works. The woman merely smiled and motioned with her hand to come join her near the water.

"I don't suppose you're going to explain this bizarre mini-after life thing to me are you." The woman's face just smiled brighter.

"You have a truly unique mind, child. But yes, I'll explain, somewhat why you are here." I looked passively to the beautiful woman again and nodded for her to continue.

"You are not dead, merely knocked out by the blow. You may have died, had you not been wearing that bracelet of yours."

"So the bracelet does have some magical properties." I ah-ha'd as pieces began clicking into place.

"Yes, it has been passed down throughout time in many different forms. It always sticks close to its rightful owner, and only appears to them in a time of need."

"I'm sorry you're still not making much sense. The bracelet was my mother's, obviously, since it was on her nightstand when she…"

"Died. Yes it was there, but you didn't even know of its existence until she was gone, did you not?"

"No, I guess not."

"So the bracelet protects me. Why me?"

"You'll find out in time. That's for you to discover yourself."

'That's bloody helpful.' I snorted to myself.

"So this the part where you send me back to the lion's den?" I asked. She laughed at the inside joke and pointed to the opening in the clearing.

"We shall meet again someday."

Pain…oh god it hurt so bad. My skin felt like it was on fire, my muscles screamed in pain. The room was too dark to see anything, but I knew instantly that I was in the Infirmary.

There was a note left on the pillow beside me…and it hurt every muscle and joint to lift my hand and read it but I knew I had to.

_Hermione,_

_I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for you to get in the way of our fight. Please forgive me. Ginny made me dispose of the book. I have a detention with Snape for the rest of the school year, but that doesn't matter. I should be thrown out for what I did to you. For what HE did to you too. We'll be by in the morning, Madam Pomfrey said you can leave after breakfast. Snape arrived on the scene and fixed most of the damage. Please please please forgive me. I'll see you in the morning._

_Harry_

"He shouldn't have been in there in the first place. Neither should you have, for that matter." A quiet sneer came from the shadow beside my best. Testing a glance at the Healer's room, and muttering a silencing charm around the bed, I turned to confront one half of my attackers.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked shakily. Not trusting my voice quite yet.

"He was spying on me. I couldn't have that."

"What could be so bad that it caused you two to nearly do each other in?" His face fell slightly and I knew no matter what he said he wouldn't tell me the truth.

"It's none of your business, Gryffindor." He replied. "If you wouldn't have found it so bloody necessary to tail me all year then we wouldn't even be in this mess!" He was practically yelling, knowing that the Silencing charms were working. I thought for a minute he was going to start ripping his hair out.

"You're everywhere. Every time I turn and look around you're there. You stare at me with those "I'm better than you let me help," eyes…" At least I thought the boy was truly losing his mind. 'What the hell is he talking about?'

"I could have killed you tonight!" At this I glanced down at the green stoned bracelet and winced slightly at the tone in his voice.

"Get to the point, Malfoy." I was weary and the potions that the nurse must have shoved down my throat were starting to take effect.

"Don't you get it! Do I have to spell it out for you? For the "brightest witch of her age" you sure are acting pretty stupid right now!" The shouting was really starting to work on my nerves. Not to mention he called me stupid.

"I'm trying to help you…you pompous arrogant stuck up pureblood Slytherin snake!"

"Nosey little Mudblood!"

"Ferret faced Pansy lover!"

"Redheaded Weasley lover!"

"You arrogant ass-wipe!" I shouted as I sat up and faced him head on. I nearly fell off the bed when I heard the sound of laughter erupt from his lips that two minutes prior were shouting terrible insults.

"Ass-wipe?" And continued his laughter. I couldn't hold back, I couldn't think of a better insult and I once heard a muggle boy say that to his older brother. Gods I must be losing my mind. Pansy being civil, ghost like women talking to me when I should be dead, and now Malfoy looking at me like I was the only other person on this planet. He turned away and paced for a few minutes. Every now and then a shout laugh would appear from his lips then followed by a sneer. My head grew dizzy just following him back and forth.

"Are you going to tell me what you've been up to?" I asked curiously. Desperately searching for anything to get him to stop moving back and forth.

"Are you ever going to stop asking questions?" He retorted back.

"You're in my hospital room I'll have you know."

"I put you here. I have a right." That was the most delusional reasoning I have ever heard of. Almost as crazy as Pansy telling me that Draco would be better off marrying me…oh god.

"Malfoy…"

"Shut up a minute." He said as he went back to his pacing. I should probably be more insulted about him basically ordering me to be quiet, but at the moment I couldn't really think of anything coherent to retort back.

"Are you going to stop that anytime soon?"

"No."

"Are you going to tell me why?"

"No."

"Can I go to sleep now master?" I half joked. He stopped then. Stalked, because Malfoy's just don't know how to walk any other way, and stopped within inches of my bed. I glared my eyes at his stern look and the next moment seemed to be taken completely away by the unexpected.

Once again he kissed me with that intense and desperate need that left me stunned, curious, and just a smite heartbroken.

"No."

And then he left.

The next morning I was cured from the "bumps and bruises from falling down the flight of stairs in the middle of the night."

'How creative, Snape.'

The boys and Ginny came to collect me after breakfast on our way to class. Harry couldn't stop apologizing to the point where I wanted to use his own lip locker curse to shut him up. It took a few days but everything went back to normal slowly. Well almost.

Malfoy was still bothering the hell out of me. I couldn't figure him out. One minute he was kissing me in the middle of the night like it was the last chance he had on Earth. Then the next minute he's in the hallway calling me a 'bushy-haired know-it-all'. Ugh, boys.

It was another cold but somewhat nice day, and one of the last games of the Quidditch season. Harry, being forced to serve detention, was forced to sit out of the game. I looked around the stands but couldn't find Malfoy anywhere. 'He's back in the Room again!'

It was easy to sneak around the castle when the whole of the school, save a select few, were outside watching the Gryffindors win. The door was closed, as I was sure it would be, but try as I might I tried to get past the barrier anyway. After two failed attempts I figured it was safer to just sit and wait outside. He couldn't take all day, could he?

"Some would consider this stalking, Gryffindor." The familiar sarcastic voice rang in my ear moments later as I had the curtains pulled back to watch the last of the game. Though it was too far away to get a good, clear view, I tried to hide somewhat the fact that I was waiting for my arch nemesis.

"You're playing Ravenclaw. There's no question that you'll win if that's what you're worried about. But I don't think that's what brings you by this way." His voice was tingling the light hairs in my ear and I could feel the heat of his body behind me. I didn't chance a glance to turn around, knowing that if I tried that my face would be too close for comfort. A cold shiver went up my spine as the goosebumps appeared of my arms.

"Still frightened I see. You have nothing to fear from me, Gryffindor."

"I have everything to fear from you. You're smiling, so whatever you're doing in there is going well. And if it's going well for you than that cannot mean anything good for me and my friends." I stated impassively. The sudden need to rub my arms was almost overwhelming.

Arms snaked around my waist and I gasped at the sudden impact of closeness. I continued to face the Quidditch fields as I watched my body have a mind of its own. I couldn't help but feel the heat radiating off of him in waves. The simple need, the desire, was it always like this for people? Was this what Lavender and Ron had? Would this be what Ginny and Harry have? This unbridled passion for being with the forbidden. The taste, oh god the taste of his lips on my neck.

'Get a grip Granger!' My conscious screamed.

'Don't mind if I do,' the retort replied.

I felt like I was in the cartoon with the angel and devil playing favorites on my shoulder. Through the misty eyed passion that my brain has turned to, I saw an advantage to my situation.

'I could get the necessary information from Malfoy to pass on to help Harry.' It was wrong. It was against every moral fiber in my being. But I could not deny the way our bodies fit together, even if our minds were light years behind waiting to catch up.

"Lionness." He muttered against my neck as he kissed the soft spot above my collarbone.

"Snake." I replied as I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him continue this slow torture.

The sound of a whistle brought us both out of our cloud nine ecstasy and before I could even turn around, he was gone in a flash of green and black.

"Sneaky little snake." I muttered as I gathered what was left of my morals and walked back to the common room to celebrate with the team.

Walking through the portrait I couldn't help but smile at the sight before me. Upon hearing of Ginny's marvelous win as Seeker, Harry picked her up off the ground and kissed her in front of family and friends. I looked at Ron who merely shook his head with a smile.

"Bout damn time." I stated and walked over to congratulate my best friends, for more than one reason.

"How are the lessons with Dumbledore going Harry?" I asked as we once again lounged around the common room after class. Ginny was busy studying for her OWL's and could occasionally be seen talking to herself in third person.

"He hasn't called me back for a while now. I think he knows where a horcrux is, but he doesn't want to leave just yet. He said he'll tell me, he promised to take me with him."

The look on my friends face nearly broke my heart. It was a mixture of determination and deep sorrow. There was something that he was holding back, something that he kept trying to say but not knowing how to say it. I could tell Ron noticed it too, but also kept his mouth shut. The three of us, we've been through it all together, and there was still a little more left to go.

"I need to look up something in the library for Ancient Runes." I stated quickly, remembering the dream and the curiosity about my mother's bracelet. I nearly forgot about it again, and the nagging feeling that I should know something else about it.

"You know it'd be easier if you just moved your dorm down here, then you'd never have to leave." The usual snarky voice of my enemy-lover responded.

"I don't have time to deal with you tonight, I have some research to do." I sighed in response knowing that I just peaked his curiosity and now he would never leave till I did.

"What are you researching now? Different ways to 'do me in' as they say?" He joked. I hated that I loved the sound of his voice. That perfect blend of male huskiness and vengeful discontent.

"I'm looking up stones and their magical properties, if you must know." I replied. His face then turned serious and he grabbed my non-braceleted wrist.

"Why?"

"You know something don't you?" I asked him curiously, trying desperately to hide the other wrist.

"What are you researching stones for? What do YOU know?" Ah, a standstill. Thank the gods he didn't grasp my other hand. I knew I should have taken the bracelet off after the dream.

"Does it have to do with your mission?" I asked with a smile on my face, turning my lips up towards his. I had no idea how to flirt to get information out of a guy, but after spending years watch Lavender and Pavarti do it, couldn't be that hard right?

"No." I believed that, however he still sounded like he knew more than he was letting on.

I snaked my arms around his stomach and continued to draw imaginary lines on his chest. If I could have watched myself I would have been shocked at my own behavior.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Gryffindor?" His grey eyes narrowed slightly as he took hold of my right arm. The one with the bracelet on it.

"Is it working?" He continued to stare at the green stones.

"No." His reply came. 'Damn.'

His eyes never left the stones, as though he was calculating the stone in his mind.

"Where did you get this?" His calmness shocked me. I swore the boy had more mood swings then a pregnant woman.

"My mother." He seemed satisfied with the answer and the anger that was there before smoothed out gradually.

"So about that seduction."

'Bastard.'


	7. Chapter Six: Hard To Say

_Chapter Six: Hard To Say_

_There's been time,  
I'm so confused.  
And all my roads,  
Well,they lead to you._

_I just can't turn and walk away..._

_It's hard to say what it is,  
I see in you.  
Wonder if i'll always be with you.  
Words can't say it,  
And I can't do,  
Enough to prove,  
It's all for you._

_-Sister Hazel_

Once upon a time there was a princess in a far away castle. Every day she dreamt of a prince to come to her rescue, and every day she was disappointed when once again he didnt show. Finally she took her destiny in her own hands. Said to hell with the tower and sought out her prince herself. She traveled for many days through hostile lands before she found him sitting calmly by a lake, lying in a glass coffin as though in a dream. She marveled at his good looks, fawned over the way his rich blonde locks fell softy across his pale face. Such perfection, such beauty. She walked over and lay her hand beside his pale stiff face and leaned over and with all her wishes and dreams, smacked the hell out of him till he woke up in a panic. Youre late! Was all the fair princess said.

I began keeping a notebook from that day on filled with anything that came to mind to help Harry and the war effort. So far it seemed like a bunch of gibberish, but somehow I could connect the dots. There wasnt much written down except scraps:

Horcruxes

Bracelet

Stones

Dumbledores withering hand

Dracos closet mystery

Pansy (couldnt go into detail in case someone else read this and therefore my end of the pinky swear would be broken and Id probably end up dead.

Nothing seemed to connect, but somehow it had to. Malfoy knew there was something about stones, but then again he was a pureblood and probably had libraries full of thousands of years of magical education at his fingertips. Would Pansy know? We were by no means friends, barely spoke after the results of her paternity was revealed, but still I could call in a favor for all my hard work right?

The perfect opportunity arose a few days later when we were forced to work together in Slughorns class. The sound of cauldron hissing drowned our voices out for all but ourselves to hear. Keeping our typical sneers in place about the injustice of being lab partners, I used the corner of my mouth to question her.

"I'm calling in my favor." I whispered as I bent over the lacewigs I was currently chopping.

"I figured it was only a matter of time. I suppose you're going to ask to borrow my fiance right?"

"How the hell…" I almost blew our cover and nearly shouted in shock. How could she possibly know?

"I knew since the masquerade and our trip to Italy when you said to call you Helen. Helen of Troy had a daughter named Hermione. I may not be as smart as you, Gryffindor, but I did make Prefect." She half smiled with the corner of her mouth.

"I just assumed you shagged Snape." I replied nonchalantly. heard her choke back a laugh and force it into a cough as she added three pieces of lizard hearts.

"You've got a wicked sense of humor Gryffindor." I knew she wouldn't take the insult to heart. Even though that was the rumor that spread around last year when Pansy received her Prefect badge.

"I was in the library the other day…"

"Big surprise there."

"Will you let me finish? Anyway, our favorite Slytherin appeared and asked what I was researching. I told him I was looking up the magical property of stones and he got all interrogative on me. You're in his circle, you've seen the Dark Lord. Why would he be freaking out so much? I asked my quasi-friend/acquaintance." I was shocked to discover how I've come to depend on this pinky swear truth ceremony we'd done. We both knew we could be completely honest and tell each other the honest truth because it didn't matter if we hurt the others feelings.

"My father is not a part of HIS inner circle, but I can tell you what snippets I've heard. He is looking for four stones. Rumor is it will give him a major power boost or something like that. These stones are said to be old, rare, and extremely powerful. He doesn't need them per se but he doesn't want your friend there to discover them either. He thinks it'll give him a one up over Boy Wonder. That's all I know."

"Thanks." I muttered quietly as we continued to finish our potion. I could feel a pair of silver eyes boring holes into my head, and it took every ounce of will power not to turn around.

'Get a grip on those hormones, Granger.' I mentally abused myself.

"What's with the log book there, Mione?" Ginny asked as she made herself comfortable on the bed. From across the room I could see Pavarti comforting a sobbing Lavender. 'That can't be good.'

"He dumped her this morning. Says she was driving him crazy, but really he told her it's too dangerous with the war and all." Ginny explained with obvious joy in her voice.

"I always thought he'd fancy you, you know. Mum sure does hope for it. Says we should all be one big happy family. Crazy woman."

"Ron and I would never work out. One of us would kill the other before the year was out." I laughed softly so Lavender couldn't overhear. The fading light of the candle seemed to make Ginny's ring sparkle in the glow.

"Ancient magic? Stones passed down through time could it be? No…

"What's up, Mione? You spaced out there for a minute."

"I think I'm going to take a bath. End of year exams fast approaching I feel my brain starting to fry and all." I laughed half heartedly as I gathered up my bath materials and walked to the Prefects Bathroom.

The portrait wasn't locked; thankfully there wasn't another soul in sight. It was too easy to slip into the pool sized bath full of different scents and bubbles and let my mind wander.

"You really should be more careful, Granger. Not locking the door? Anyone could have come in and enjoyed the view." I knew that voice and groaned in frustration. 'NOT NOW!' My mind screamed at itself.

"Shouldn't you be doing illegal activities in the Room of Requirement?" I cheekily replied back knowing it'd piss him off. He turned and locked the portrait so no one could disturb us.

'That's comforting,' I thought to myself.

"I believe I've finished for the time being and decided to seek out other pleasures." He cocked his head to the side and let his damn blonde hair fall across that narrow Adonis face. I swore I could feel the pool temperature rising as we spoke.

"I refuse to be your little play toy for you to enjoy and discard when you're done, Slytherin." I kept to my side of the pool-tub knowing full well he was about to undress and join me in the bubbled water.

"I'm shocked, lioness. I risk everything so we can have these memorable moments together, and you think I have ulterior motives." I turned my eyes towards the mermaid on the wall while he finished undressing and got into the water.

"Stay there, Malfoy. I can't think when you get near me." I demanded.

"There isn't any need for thinking at this moment, love." He replied.

I wish I could say it was teenage hormones that drove me back into his arms each time, but that would be a lie. I wish I could say it was the thrill of the forbidden that made me crave his touch and taste, but that wasn't it either. It was the perfect blend of naive boy charm and tortured grown man that seemed to rip his soul in two. Sometimes I felt myself starting to love him, and sometimes I felt afraid of the dark fire that came into his eyes. It was pure torture, it was complete ecstasy, it wasn't going to end well. In the end one of us would have to destroy the other, that's how our worlds worked. We were not from the same blood, from the same background, or followed the same rules. He was too fearful to lose his place alongside his father, and she was too proud to back down from hers. It wasn't going to be the kind of romance found in fairy tales and novels where the tragic lovers take off to far and distant lands to escape the evil and live happily ever after. There was no happily-ever-after in our story, there was the here and now, there was the kind of passion that could rip your heart in two, and then there would be heartache, but they'd get over it. One of them would survive the battle; the other would be destroyed in either body or mind. It was the way of the world, and to try to accept anything else was just wishful thinking.

His arms reached for me but I beat him there first; jumping through the water into his warm embrace. He was tall enough to stand fully upright in shallow pool whereas my feet barely touched the ground at the deepest part. Just for that moment, I forgot about all the evil in the world, I forgot about our positions in the war, there was just this: a boy and a girl. It was so simple, so primal and so pure if it was possible I would promise him the moon and stars. But really all I could promise was tonight, because tomorrow could see us apart again.

The water was beginning to cool off, but I didn't care. The bubbles were slowly dying and I knew this was the most skin I had ever exposed to a boy before (outside a bathing suit of course).

I grabbed his face between my palms and stared at the narrowed grey eyes of the man that becoming to get harder to get rid of.

"We don't have a lot of time." He said. I nodded in reply. We had minutes really, seconds in the vast chasm of time and space. A blip really, and tomorrow or the next day whatever he had planned would go into effect. Whatever Harry and Dumbledore had planned would go into effect, and she would take her rightful place beside her two friends.

"I want you to promise me something." There was a vulnerability that I had never seen in his eyes before. A fear mixed with worry that made my insides want to weep for the lost man-child.

"Anything." I whispered in reply.

"Promise me you'll survive, no matter what. No matter who wins, you'll survive. I'll find you."

It was the best I could promise, since there was no certainty.

He nodded in acceptance and moved his arms further up my waist. We slowly edged to the shallow end of the pool and the cold air made me realize how exposed I was. I crossed my arms over my chest to hide the evidence.

"Don't. Don't cover yourself up around me." The ego was back, along with his trademark smirk, and I walked back into his warm embrace. He began raining kisses on my forehead, cheeks, mouth, neck, and chest. The slow torture ritual was making my knees weak with passion and sadness. This would be the first and last time we'd have this carefree passion without outside forces reigning down on us. His eyes searched mine for permission and I nodded in agreement. He lifted me so that my legs were wrapped securely around his hips and lowered us further into the cooling water. I bit his shoulder at the onslaught of pain and spent the next 30 seconds apologizing for the mark I left there.

"Ready?" He asked after he let the water ease the tension a little more.

"I've been ready." I replied with complete eagerness and met each thrust with equal passion. He was gentle, tender, and perfect, and I found myself wishing that I could freeze time for just a moment and savor the memory. When I couldn't hold back any longer, his soft words encouraged me to let go, and he found himself following not much later.

Breathing irregular, I snuck a glance up towards his face to see his expression but his neck was arched back and his eyes glancing up to the ceiling in an expression I couldn't read or understand.

"You'll be the death of me, Gryffindor." He muttered to the ceiling before bringing his mouth back down to my own. I gave him everything I could possibly give in that final kiss. I gave hope, I gave love, I gave a promise that I knew I couldn't keep. My Slytherin lover.

"Goodnight little dreamer." He whispered in my ear before we parted ways to opposite sides of the castle.

"We're leaving tonight. Dumbledore left me a message to meet him at the door after dinner." Harry announced as we walked back from class that afternoon.

"I want you guys to take the last of the Felix Felicis. I have a bad feeling about tonight and if Malfoy tries to do something then I want to know you're all safe and taken care of." Harry rambled on as he went upstairs to get his cloak. His voice was rushed with excitement and fear; it came off him in waves. The wonderful thing about her two best friends was that you could always tell what they were feeling; they proudly wore their heart on their sleeve, which was a blessing as well as a curse.

"Ron, take care of Ginny. If something happens make sure she gets out okay?" I glanced at Harry then, the real Harry, the boy who was forced to grow up too soon. Just like him, my Slytherin lover. Boy's thrown a bad lot in life and forced to face the consequences of those roles given. The lion and the lamb.

"I will mate. Good luck." Ron smacked him on the shoulder, a sure sign of brotherly affection. I however grabbed him in a death grip hug as my brown eyes met grey from across the front hall.

"Be safe." I whispered as I took the Felix bottle from his hand grudgingly. Taking Ron's arm we turned back only to catch the last flicker of blonde hair disappearing up the stairwell.

"Let's round up what's left of the D.A. and start planning. Luna and I can tail Snape."

"I'll take Ginny and Neville and cover the Room of Requirement. Seamus, Dean and the others can keep an eye on the staircases, and the Aurors are already by the front doors so that's covered."

"Should we send a warning to the Order?"

"I don't know how much time we have."

"We could send a patronus, alert Tonks and the others waiting down in Hogsmeade." I mentioned.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

I thought of last night and produced the brightest silver otter I had ever seen.

"Warn the others." Was all I said.

The chaos of everything that took place that night is still a mystery to us. Death Eaters in the castle. Snape a traitor. Dumbledore dead? Malfoy fleeing in the dark of the night. It just couldn't be happening. But that's how we all wound up in the Infirmary hours later watching over a sick looking Bill and his tear stained fiancé, Fleur. Harry, ever the guilty war hero, blamed himself for a mission that he could never have foreseen. There was no way to know that the locket was a fake, no way to know that Snape was a traitor and would kill Dumbledore, no way to know that Malfoy fixed a cabinet that let the Death Eaters inside the castle in the first place. The last part bothered me more than it should have. I knew he was up to something and I didn't push hard enough to find out. Instead I let my hormones get the best of me and let him use me like a common whore.

'Bastard.' I swore to myself.

The funeral was solemn but beautiful, and I couldn't help but notice the tears in Ginny's eyes or the casual way she shied away from him after the ceremony.

"Ever the tragic war hero. Saving the girl from heartbreak and despair." I muttered to myself as I followed the others through the oak doors.

"Sounds familiar, you or him?" A voice commented as she motioned her head towards Harry and Ginny walking slightly apart from one another.

"Does it matter? Nothing's changed." I replied bitterly.

"Everything has changed. You know why he had to do it. We all have our place in life, Gryffindor."

"I question that Slytherin." I sarcastically replied.

"He was saving his family. Saving himself. He's not like you, he can't just give up everything for others, it's not how he was raised." Pansy commented as she hung back in the shadows of the castle stone wall.

"So now what do we do?"

"You fight, the best way you know how. And we all go back to the way things were." She shrugged and followed her fellow classmates inside the castle.

"Besides, she motioned one last time quietly where no one could hear us, you still have to figure out about those stones." She finished as the sunlight glimmered off her tigers eye necklace.

Bloody hell.


	8. Chapter Seven: Tell Me Lies

Chapter 7

"_If I could turn the page_

_In time then, I'd rearrange just a day or two_

_Close my, close my, close my eyes_

_But I couldn't find a way_

_So I'll settle for one day to believe in you_

_Tell me, tell me, tell me lies."_

_~Fleetwood Mac_

If Disney taught us girls' one thing, it was that getting the guy was never easy. Aurora, of Sleeping Beauty had to risk staph infection, bed sores, and bad hair before her prince could wake her. Snow White only had to suffer affixation by apple and place her trust into the care of seven lonely little men who lived alone in the woods. The Little Mermaid traded in her flipper for sunburn for a guy who didn't initially believe in her. And my favorite, Belle, that little bookworm, had to battle her own inner demons and potential arrest for bestiality before discovering the prince (human) hidden underneath all those layers. It barely worked for them in the end, so what hope did that give the rest of us?

We had two days before Dumbledore's funeral, and after that I knew that I would no longer see these stone hallways again, not as a student. I had already confiscated all of Dumbledore's book and placed them in my trunk awhile to help Harry and our inevitable search of the horcruxes that would most likely begin this summer after Bill and Fleur's wedding. People wept throughout the halls. Tests were cancelled as were classes. Most students remained in their dormitories and comforted each other knowing that if this great man could be killed then that left little help for the rest of us who couldn't even come close in comparison in terms of strength and skill. I wanted to mourn with the rest of them, not just for the death of the greatest wizard I had ever met, but for my own loss at the knowledge that had Snape not intervened it would have been by my lover's hands. I knew Harry was hurting, we all were though him most of all, but I needed to know more about the magical amulets that Voldemort was looking for, because if my theory was right then none of my friends were safe. 48 hours….begin.

"Damnit, why can't there be a spell that works as well as Google." I shouted while scouring the shelves. Why couldn't the library be organized by necessity and not alphabetically.

"Google, Gryffindor?" A voice sneered from my left, my current accomplice in researching.

"It's a Muggle thing. You can type whatever you want and it'll find at least 50+ sources of material you could use." Frustrated I began pulling books on various magical artifacts of Europe, not knowing if it was going to help any, but seemed like a good enough place to start.

"We could always ask Madam Pince." My companion tartly replied.

"Too risky. If we limit breaks and sleep schedules we might be able to gather enough source material…"

"Hold on a minute. I didn't sign on to this charade to spend the next two nights awake and in here alone with you. Besides the obvious talk that will go around, I'm certain you'll start to smell after a while or fall asleep, or become a raving lunatic and what good will that do us then?" She was right, and I hated her for it. We needed reinforcements and though I wasn't sure how well they would be, I knew exactly who I needed for the job.

Her robes were rumbled as though she hadn't changed them. Her normally excited brown eyes were red rimmed and stained. All in all, she looked like hell.

"So tell us what we are looking for?" Ginny asked with a slight hiccup in her voice. I called in Luna and Ginny, knowing they at least carried enough intelligence and motivation over their male counterparts. I had also sent Pansy to the other end of the library, the Restricted Section, knowing that she had permission to be there, as a Prefect, and that I wouldn't have to answer any questions regarding why she, a girl who rarely left her housemates sides, was helping me in the library. Didn't want to risk that pesky pinky swear curse when there was too much else to accomplish.

"I need to find out any information about magical stones. Rocks, minerals, that kind of thing." I mentioned haphazardly while browsing through yet another useless book. After the first few hours I noticed Pansy left to get lunch, and by the 8th hour of research, Ginny had fallen asleep in her desk. This was getting us nowhere fast. I sent the two girls back up to their dormitories to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be the last chance we'd get to use Hogwart's resources before heading into the unknown.

"Well fat lot of help they gave us. I think at one point I heard the Looney there putting her ear against the book as though it would talk back to her."

"Don't call her Looney. Her name is Luna. Or Lovegood since you Slytherin's seem so desperate to call everyone by their last names or a variation of them. Her mom died in a potion's experiment gone wrong and I have a suspicion that she was in the room when it happened and the residual effects permanently addled her mind."

"You think?" She replied. 'Smartass.' I thought back to myself.

"That still doesn't leave us with anything useful. What did you get?" She asked looking over my shoulder rather rudely to stare at the shorthand notes I took in my log book.

"Nothing too tangible. I was going over a few historical works that mention a surge of power aiding the winning sides of certain battles over the years, which lead me to conclude it's these artifacts, but no one seems to know the specifics of what they are and what they do." I groaned in frustration.

"Alright, hit me with that you already know. We can bounce ideas and theories and maybe that'll give us some sense of direction on where to look next." Doth my ears deceive me, she not only sounded civil but also intelligent.

"Way to earn that Prefect badge, Pansy." I retorted with a chuckle.

"But not nearly as much fun as it would have been to sleep with Snape." She replied.

This is one of those rare moments that Muggles refer to as 'stunned silence.'

"Pick your jaw up, Gryffindor, he's not my type. But don't think we Slytherin girls hadn't thought about it over the years. On to business." Taking a deep breath I turned back a few pages on my log book to tell her my suspicions.

"What we know is that the Dark Lord," knowing how people reacted to the term 'Voldemort', I refrained from using his actual name though I still didn't see the point. Dark Lord? Lord of the Dark? Michael Flattley would be sad to know the almost assimilation.

"…if after the power of these 'stones' or crystals or whatever to use as a power boost. They may serve a bigger purpose but it doesn't sound like he knows any more about what they're capable of then we do. He merely seems to want the extra advantage." I left off about the horcruxes, knowing that although she most likely wouldn't tell her father anything, I still couldn't trust the girl.

"It doesn't seem to me as though he's put too much of an effort into it though. Back in first year when he was after the Sorcerer's Stone, he stopped at nothing to find it and at any expense." Pansy responded, still glancing through a book she had out on the table.

"True, but that leads me back to the point where I don't think he feels they're a threat. He may want them, for the advantage, but he doesn't seem to care whether he'll have them to battle against Harry or not. It seems like right now, with Dumbledore gone, he feels invincible." Pansy nodded in agreement, casting her eyes to the side so I wouldn't see the sad expression come over her at the mention of Dumbledore. He may have favored his Gryffindors', but he was well respected by people of all houses and all creatures alike.

"They show up in wizard history during times of great conflict, particularly wars."

"Which we should rightfully assume is right now, or sometime soon." I nodded in affirmation wandering if I should tell her about my near death experience.

"I think I might have one of them." I mentioned after a few moments of complete silence.

"Your bracelet?" She asked, deducing down to the only piece of jewelry I ever wore.

"I was in the infirmary a few weeks ago. I got in between a battle between Harry and Draco in the boy's lavatory and had, what I can only assume, was an afterlife experience."

"Leave it to a Gryffindor to stand between to idiots pointing their wands at each other. Oooo dirty." She smiled to herself at her own inside joke. 'Don't think about it, girl.' My conscience scolded back.

"Anyway, instead of the 'bright light' the Muggles tend to boast about, I was in a clearing in the woods with a woman in a toga petting a lion. Don't even go there." I stopped her before she could say 'dirty' again. She smiled in retaliation.

"She mentioned that the bracelet saved my life. It was something I found after I discovered my parents had been killed." I saw the look of shock register on her face and forgot I hadn't told anyone about that ill fated night. 'Too late now, Granger.' I chastised.

"So you're bracelet is one of the artifacts, the stones on it, what are they made of?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, I kept meaning to look it up and got side tracked with…everything. Considering the design they're most likely malachite I think."

"Okay. So you found the bracelet after your mother's death, and it most likely saved you from dying anyway. Do you know of any others?" She asked while still pacing across the deserted library.

"I think Luna has one too. The type of explosion she mentioned would have easily killed anyone else in the room with her mother. She survived somehow, and found these earrings lying there. They're moonstone I believe."

"But if she found them after her mother was killed, wouldn't it, shouldn't it have killed her too?"

"Not if she had them already on her and wasn't aware of it. Or maybe near her enough to shield her from the worst of it. Like I said part of her was still affected by that blast, but it didn't kill her, only mildly damaged her."

"Okay so if crazy girl makes two…wait, do we even know how many of them are out there?" Pansy asked.

"No, but it'll be some kind of significant number. Numbers are important in magic: stability, alchemy, etc. Most of those kind of numbers are under 10. The most common being: 3, 4, and 7."

"Well it's not much but it's a start I guess. So we know of possibly two. So for one to appear does someone have to have some kind of traumatizing experience happen to them or something?"

"I don't know. Possibly. That seems the fit the pattern so far. Or maybe it just has to be life altering, not necessarily bad but something that changes the course of that person's future."

"So we just need to interview every magical person that has had a 'life-altering' experience. Shouldn't be so hard, right? I give up. Same time tomorrow." She mentioned as she gathered her books and notes and left towards the dungeons.

Sighing, knowing that I wasn't going to get much sleep no matter what anyway, I decided to revisit the Prefect bathroom. Even if I knew he wasn't here, and a traitor, and so many other things, I needed to experience that night over again, even if it was just in my mind.

I made sure the wards were on tight, so that no one could come in and disturb me. Even before disrobing I had the sense that someone or something was watching me. The mermaid in the portrait was too busy ruffling her hair to watch me and no one was in the water, or had been there any time soon since the bottom of the pool was bone dry. There, high above the portrait near a small window two sets of dark eyes were watching me. It was an Eagle Owl. I only knew of one person in school who had one of those. It dropped its piece of parchment and left in a hurry, not bothering to wait for a reply, knowing it wouldn't be safe anyway.

_H,_

_ It was never my intention to hurt you. Until we meet again little dreamer._

_ D._

Sigh. This was going to be a very difficult year indeed.


	9. Chapter Eight: Wonderwall

AN: So I believe I'm going to eliminate the Deathly Hallows altogether and replace it with these extra powers. The horcruxes still need to be destroyed but the person bearing all four objects/stones will have a leg up in a matched fight. That's all I'll give away for now. Thanks so much for the hits and reviews! Okay, read on…

**Chapter Eight**

"_And all the roads we have to walk are winding  
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding  
There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don't know how_

Because maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me  
And after all, you're my wonderwall"

_~Oasis_

"I told you you'd start to smell." A voice woke me, rather rudely I might say though I would expect no less from her.

"I didn't realize I'd have fallen asleep." I groaned while attempting to get the kink out of my neck from the uncomfortable angle to which I had slept last night.

"You people never do. Go get a shower or and some food or something. I'll get started on this mess awhile." She sounded exasperated but I couldn't help but notice the smile/smirk that came out of the corner of her mouth as she turned her head. Had our world not been so screwed up at the moment, I couldn't help but think that we may have made a good team, and even better friends.

'Maybe if we win, who knows.' I thought to myself as I dragged my bag to the girl's bathroom, not feeling the mood for a bath this morning. Not wanting to waste time I showered as fast as humanely, or magically in this case, possible and decided to search out my two female companion helpers at the Great Hall hoping to catch them before they left breakfast. Thankfully I was in luck.

"Can you believe all the people starting to show up already?" Ron asked as I sat down across from him.

It was true the grounds were littered by people who have traveled from every country and continent to pay their respects. Our small school memorial service the other day would by in no means come near as close to the official one for guests and family that would take place this afternoon at sundown, which reminded me that our time was precious.

"Where have you been, Hermione, we couldn't find you last night." Harry asked as he once again pushed food around on his place under the pretense of 'eating'. He still wasn't over blaming himself for Dumbledore's death yet I could tell. And now with having to leave Ginny, he was even more miserable.

"There's something important I'm researching in the library. I promise I'll tell you guys all about it when I find what I need and when we're…safe." It was true, I couldn't hide this information from them anymore. Knowing that by the end of summer, or at least until after the Weasley wedding, when the three of us would take off to help hunt down the horcruxes, I could fill them in on my plan, and Voldemorts.

"Always researching." Ron laughed into his porridge.

"Do you need any help?" Harry, the ever lovable Harry, asked sadly.

"No, I've got help, but thank you. Besides, you guys should probably go start packing anyway. We'll have to leave right after the funeral for home knowing that this makeshift peace that the Dark Lord is offering is only temporary and he could attack right after." For once they didn't fight with me over this, and I knew I could trust them to get it done. Grabbing Ginny and Luna's attention I nodded for them to follow me back to the library.

Two hours later it seemed like we were once again at a dead end.

"Oh pretty! She's wearing my earrings!" Luna happily announced amidst all the quiet. I ran over to wear the blonde was sitting. Ginny, already sitting beside her looked over her shoulder, and from the corner of the Restricted section I could see Pansy's amber eyes narrow in expectation.

"What book is this, Luna?" Sure enough in a picture on the upper right corner there was a woman rising out of the ocean, blonde hair waving in the breeze, and on her ear was a bluish-silver stone, moonstones. The name under the caption read 'Ran, Sea Goddess.'

"It's a book on mythology. I read it to get names for creatures to look for on expeditions with my father." Ginny shook her head and laughed lightly. 'Oh Luna.' The look on her face read.

Knowing that the other girls weren't sure what I was looking for, I grabbed the book from Luna and took notice of something. Not every god or goddess was necessarily wearing jewelry or stones of any kind in every picture.

"Luna, have you read this entire book before?" I asked, knowing it'd be faster to ask her instead of looking through its 500+ pages.

"Of course, many times." She responded as if insulted in a way. The smile on my face grew, knowing that we could have our answer before leaving Hogwarts.

"Do you remember any other pictures of gods, goddesses, or anyone else wearing any particular jewelry or objects?" I knew, being in Ravenclaw, and with the photographic memory of a child, she would remember if she had seen anything.

"There's a picture, somewhere in the Celtic section of a lady wearing Ginny's ring." She mentioned offhandedly. I hurriedly turned to the section on Celtic Mythology and sure enough within minutes I came across Brigid: Celtic fire goddess, under the B section. And sure enough she was wearing Ginny's ring.

"Well that's odd." Ginny exclaimed, suddenly interested now in our search. I knew Pansy couldn't stay away too long and I saw her moving closer out of the corner of my eye.

"A fire goddess, a sea goddess… Something. There's something I'm missing…"

"Alchemy." Pansy's voice rang out from behind us. Ginny turned around, ready to insult the Slytherin for eaves dropping, but I placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her calm.

"This is a private conversation Parkinson." Ginny announced scathingly.

"Ginny, let her speak." But I already knew the line of thinking that Pansy was on. Alchemy was based around the 4 elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.

"The stones or objects to which hold the stones, must represent the four elements of alchemy." I knew her excitement trumped her worry over Ginny and Luna discovering our secret almost friendship. It was nice to see her without her walls up and defensive attitude.

"Yes. So we know that Brigid represents fire as does the carnelian stone, Ginny's ring. Luna's earrings are moonstone represented by the Norse goddess, Ran, who represents water. We just need to find out earth and air. Luna, can you remember any others you saw?" It seemed as though they concentrated mostly on Western mythology, hopefully, which would greatly narrow down our search. That left Greeco-Roman, possibly Egytpian, Sumerian and other Middle Eastern religions.

"Greeco-Roman, there has to be one from there. It was an extremely valuable time for both the human and magical communities." I stated while Luna turned to the section on Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.

"There, Hermione isn't that the same bracelet as yours?" Ginny exclaimed as we reached, Gaia: a.k.a Mother _Earth_. Sure enough there on the woman's wrist was the very same bracelet I wore.

"It's the woman from my death dream." I replied off handedly. There wasn't a lion seated next to her this time, but it was still the same woman with the long curly brown hair and brown eyes wearing the traditional white toga.

"Huh?" Ginny asked, confused. I explained that she had helped Harry dispose of Snape's book I was in the hospital wing having a near death experience and talking to the woman pictured in book before us.

"So that leaves air then." Pansy exclaimed in an afterthought, though I had already had my suspicions who would be its representation.

"Luna, turn to the section on Middle Eastern mythology." Ginny was still glaring at Pansy, who was in turn ignoring her and Luna was just idly lost in the clouds obeying what I asked her to do. I was already dreading having to explain everything to everyone after we found out who else this would entail and I secretly hoped for someone to come interrupt us at that point.

"The section is broken down into Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, etc. Where do you want to start?" She asked.

"Skip Egyptian and we'll stick with mainland mythologies." She nodded in affirmation and it took us another fifteen minutes before we stumbled across the 'air' goddess.

"Inanna, Sumerian goddess. Also known as 'the lady of sky' or 'Queen of Heaven.'" Luna read as we all looked upon the picture of a beautiful woman with extremely long black hair and brilliant topaz eyes. We all three looked at Pansy at that moment, myself confirming what I had already expected, the other two confused and yet at the same time understanding why I didn't ask the Slytherin girl to leave. Thank goodness it was them and not the boys, they would have tried to strike first and ask questions later.

"She's wearing your necklace." Ginny commented. I could see from the terrified look on the normally guarded Slytherin's face that she wasn't expecting this. I knew then that our secret was safe from the hands of her Death Eater's father. She was as much of a potential victim as the rest of us. Now the difficult part was finding out what this all meant.

"Okay Granger," ouch, Ginny never used my last name unless she meant business.

"Spill." She finished.

So I told them what I knew about the four stones and how Voldemort wanted the four powers to aid him against Harry.

"But why us? I don't understand why the four of us were chosen?" She continued to ask.

"I don't know the answer to that. All I can assume, given our histories or what I know about us, that something in our past, a chance occurrence or a near fatality or some other significant event in our past made these objects appear." I replied to the group, wanting to know the answer's myself and more about what they all meant.

"But Luna is the only one of us who has been in that kind of accident. You've had that bracelet since Christmas, Hermione. It didn't appear after your encounter between Malfoy and Harry." I loved how she was personally trying to ignore the fact that Pansy was now fully included in all this.

"There's something I've been meaning to say about that…" So I told her about my parents.

"Why didn't you say something! Hermione that's awful! I'm so sorry I didn't know!" She had tears in her eyes, and seeing her emotional support nearly made me lose the calm that I've built around myself since the murders.

"It's okay Ginny. I didn't want anyone to know. At least not until after the war was over. I didn't want Harry to blame himself for yet another death." I responded.

"What about you, Parkinson? We know you're loyal to the Death Eaters, what great event did you suffer to force you to team up with us?" I tried to glare at Ginny to get her to be less scathing but she wouldn't let her eyes off the Slytherin girl for a second. I wondered whether she would tell us or not. She glanced at me, knowing that to break the confidence of our circle I had to actively agree. So I shrugged instead.

"I want another swear circle. All of us this time. So what is said here cannot be used for or against us by anyone. Not even the Dark Lord." She stated narrowing her eyes to the crowd.

So for the second time this year I was sworn, literally, to secrecy in the pinky fashion. The four of us linked fingers, and make the oath. Ginny grumbled hers out, while Luna couldn't have looked happier. This new pact bonded us as more than just friends, we were something more, something bigger now.

"All you need to know about me is I was adopted by the Parkinson's not long after I was born. The necklace was left to me by my birth mother. I don't know who she is, or was, and why she left me nor do I know who my birth father was so don't bother asking." Ginny smiled and I couldn't help but notice it wasn't in genuine happiness.

"So that makes you one of us then doesn't it?" She cocked her head to the side and the smile in place turned deadly. I could feel the headache forming already.

"Careful what you say, Weasley." She replied with equal coolness.

"Hermione! Ginny! We have to get going, the funeral starts soon!" Ron shouted as he bolted into the library. Pansy jumped back and pointed her wand in defense.

"What are YOU doing here?" He asked cruelly.

"Leaving. Tell your sister she should watch what she says me, Weasel!" And with that she stormed off but not before giving me a slight wink out of the corner of her eye. Ron shook his head in disgust and turned back to us.

"Hey Luna." He smiled quickly.

"Hello Ronald." She airily replied.

"You guys go on ahead and get dressed. I want to grab a few things first." They nodded and walked out. I 'accio'd' every book I could think of about alchemy and mythology before tailing behind them back to the dorms.

This funeral was more grand then the small one we held two days prior. There were thousands that turned up from just about everywhere. Witches, wizards, Squibs, centaurs, mermaids, and various other magical beings crowded around. It was sweet, and solemn and a great tribute to this great man. I tried to act like the others, crying and holding onto each other for support, but my mind was in overdrive. I wanted to get back and start reading more about these stones, I wanted to know if Dumbledore prepared Harry enough to go hunting down the horcruxes, I wanted to get started and not remain here amongst the innocent any longer. There would be time enough to mourn when this war was done.

As soon as the services were done we left in a hurry. Shuffled by the Weasley's into the already crowded train with others who stayed for the service. Harry was personally escorted back to his aunt and uncle's house one last time to wait until his birthday when the protection against him would come down and he could join the rest of us at the Burrow for the wedding then the departure.

"Meet me in the girl's lavatory, bring Luna." I whispered to Ginny before leaving the compartment we were squeezed into. I walked past the Slytherin coaches and made brief eye contact with Pansy before heading to the girl's bathroom and placing a lock on the door. One by one the other girls filed into the cramped space and I knew we would be able to talk, albeit briefly.

"I pulled some resources before I left on both alchemy and mythology. We've got a month to research what we can before Harry is 17." I purposely left out the whole, leaving to find horcruxes expedition knowing that no one outside of Harry, Ron, Dumbledore, and I knew about it.

"I need all of you to find out what you can too. We'll need a code to place on our letters so that no one else can read them. A charm that without the password will render our letters to self-destruct."

"I got one." Luna mentioned as she taught us the charm.

"What do you want the code name to be?" I asked them.

"Goddesses!" Ginny happily chimed. Three heads shook no.

"Alchemy?" Luna suggested hesitantly.

"No, too easy." I replied.

"Use colored ink. A mark on the outside of the scroll to notify its sender. Then the responder will draw the alchemic symbol to correspond to it and say the name of its goddess for it to open." Pansy requested.

"That actually sounds good. Really good. And secure. It's safe and efficient on many levels and will help hide our identities. Also, I want you all to hide your artifacts until we're certain that the Dark Lord doesn't know about them. Ginny, keep your ring on a chain around your neck. Luna, wear your hair down whenever possible to hide the stones. Pansy, keep your necklace tucked into your shirt like Ginny. I'll wear my bracelet on my ankle and make sure my legs are always covered." Three heads nodded in unison and one by one the girls left the sanctity of the bathroom to return to their compartments. Ginny and Luna were the first to leave. Pansy held back for a moment. She didn't turn around, her hand was on the knob, and she spoke so softly I could barely hear here.

"Granger," it was the first time she called me anything except Gryffindor or Mudblood.

"You're alright." She smiled and left the room. I chuckled to myself as I waited ten minutes before following her out so as not to bring suspicions.

"You too, Parkinson. You too." I replied to myself knowing she couldn't hear me.


	10. Chapter Nine: Over My Head

**AN: I figured out an evil twist for the story for down the line. I can't wait to finish it some more. Thanks for all the great reviews and those that put this story or me on their favorites. I'm truly humbled. Thank you.**

**Chapter Nine**

"_I never knew  
I never knew  
that everything was falling through  
That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue  
To turn and run  
when all I needed was the truth  
But that's how it's got to be  
It's coming down to nothing more than apathy  
I'd rather run the other way than stay and see  
The smoke and who's still standing when it clears…"_

_~The Fray_

There's a moment when you stop and think about how everything in your life has come to this pivotal stop. Everything up until now has been child's play, but this would be the start of our true terror, the moment that would define who we were not just as humans, but as witches, wizards and theological deities. Until this moment we had only graced to edges of evil, not even our occurrence in the Department of Mysteries could come close to the adventure that would await us, and now with this new knowledge we were even more in danger of our secret being discovered. Harry was _His_ main target, and in association so was I, being a Muggleborn particularly. But the rest of them, no matter where their loyalties lay, were in immediate danger of being stolen, kidnapped for a power more ancient than any out there, more powerful than the Dark Lord could hope for. I wanted to protect my friends, old and new, but I had to be there to protect and support Harry as well, I would just have to learn to do both.

"Everyone understand tomorrow's mission?" Kingsley mentioned as the members of the Order gathered around Molly Weasley's small dining room table. It was decided that we needed to sneak Harry out of his aunt and uncle's home a day before his protection charms wore off to ward off any potential threat that the Dark Lord could plan. There would be 13 of us going to help Harry, everyone was of age and agreed to the risks. Ginny desperately begged to join in place of a grumpy Mundungus, but there was no way the Order would let her go. Tomorrow would be our first step into the unknown, a taste of the future to come.

"I suggest then we all retire and get a good night's sleep." Molly announced as cheerfully as possible. She had the most at stake, since half of her family would be participating in the "7 Harry Adventure" as we were now calling it. Most of the Order would be sleeping over, or staying nearby, which made for a cramped living quarter. I saw Ron glance over and attempt to get my attention but I shook my head, there would be plenty of time to figure out our (mine, his and Harry's) horcrux adventure later; tonight was for researching and discussing with Ginny.

"It's just not fair! I know I'm not of age, but everyone else, except mum of course, is out there risking their life for him and I can't. I have a very bad feeling about this, Hermione." Ginny argued at me and I saw the tears she was trying to hold back in her eyes.

"Ginny, if I could fast forward your age a year I would do so in a heartbeat you know that." I replied, attempting to give her some kind of comfort.

"Have you gotten anything new yet?" She asked and I pulled out the letter Pansy sent early this morning.

_H,_

HE _knows about the happy powers, but not about who holds them. Couldn't get much else because I looked too nosy for a _woman._ Let me know what you find. Oh, and there's a surprise coming for you._

_P_

"'Happy powers?' That's her idea of a code?" Ginny snorted aloud. I laughed alongside her, it was kind of funny.

"A surprise? From Pansy? This can't be good." I muttered while dragging out my pile of books.

"What do you suppose it is?" Ginny asked as she grabbed a book on alchemy.

"I honestly don't know. Sending anything more than a letter is dangerous on her end. Not only because of her father, but because she's betrothed to Malfoy and his family is even further inside the loop." I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice so as not to startle Ginny into knowing my secret fling. It would be easy to tell her, I wanted to tell someone, but it was just too complicated and with us now on opposite sides the chances of us both coming out alive is slim to none.

"Okay, so let's narrow down what we know already and figure out what we need to look up. Otherwise we'll be pouring over these books for hours without direction." I mentioned to change the subject.

"Okay. So we know the Goddesses: Ran, Brigid, Inanna, Gaia. We know they represent the four alchemic elements water, fire, air, earth. We know the stones that are used to represent the elements: moonstone, carnelian, tiger's eye, malachite. We also know which of us represents which deity: Luna, myself, Pansy and you." She mentioned while copying down some notes.

"So what we need to figure out is two parts: one, what powers the stones themselves possess and as such what elemental power can be gained from it. The second we to find out more about the goddesses themselves and why they in particular are represented, or if nothing else why they appear sporadically throughout history." I replied while making my own notes in a spiral notebook. Wizard quills were nice, but it was just soothing to the Muggle in me to still use a pen and paper the old fashion way.

"Which one do you want to tackle. We can probably cover an hour or so tonight. I know you have a long day tomorrow…" She trailed off and again I felt ashamed that she couldn't help rescue the boy she loved while the rest of us could.

"I'll tackle the mythological history, how about you take on the alchemy." I mentioned softly already mentally going through the volumes I grabbed and which one would be the most helpful.

"Sounds good." She replied.

We worked in companionable silence for the next hour or so. Taking notes quietly by a single candle light since we knew her mother would most likely be patrolling the hallways to make sure those of us who were going the next day had a good night's sleep. I forced myself not to rip my hair out in frustration, there just wasn't enough material about these powers. It seemed as though they appeared and disappeared randomly and no one in history had ever investigated as to why. So I did the next best thing, and any time I saw a picture of a battle or war and noticed one of our artifacts, I made a note. Maybe the pieces would come together on their own from there.

It was well past midnight and Ginny had already given up the fight for sleep. I commended her ability to fall asleep easily under any circumstances and knowing that I wouldn't be sleeping well myself, decided to go over her notes.

"Alchemy believes that the universe is made up of four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water..." From here it looked like she split her notes between the elements themselves and the stones themselves.

'It seems the Greeks had a completely different viewpoint on alchemy and the elements that are rooted from an even older source. However, they were the ones accredited with its discovery. Earth is strength of force, stability, the most grounded, and a perfect manifestation in Hermione.' I stopped at this note, having to take in what she wrote for a minute. Was I the most grounded, the most stable, the rock? I never looked at it that way but I guess in terms of Harry and Ron I was always the most grounded and the most logical, while they each had their own talents and personalities to add to the mix. But the rest of us, the four of us, I wasn't so sure. I was the bridge between Ginny and Luna to accept Pansy after discovering the truth, but that was more due to necessity than anything else really. Oh well, time to move on.

'Air is unpredictable, not always calm, always changing/moving, and during the belief of the four humors, represented blood. Pansy also is a perfect testament to that." I snickered picturing Ginny's voice while reading this.

'Water is heart, it is pure, it is healing, it's unchanging and yet always changed. Luna is a pure heart.' She was right, if there was anyone more perfect to being pure of heart it was Luna. The only problem is would she have been that way had she not had her accident.

'Last is Fire. Fire is energy, it is movement, it is life. Well mum always said I was a ball of energy as a kid…' That I could definitely see. It didn't look like she had time to go more in depth into her understanding of the four elements so I went back to her notes on the stones themselves.

'Carnelian: Fire, Brigid. Power, ambition, used for making choices and decisions. Motivation. Protection from 'negative energy'.'

'Moonstone: Water, Ran. Balance between heart and mind. Intuition. Soothes/balances emotions.'

'Malachite: Earth, Gaia. Fidelity in love and friendship. Interpretation. Spiritual Evolution. Guilt.'

'Tiger's Eye: Air, Inanna. Protection, integrity, will power. Balance. Courage. Grounding.'

It looked like that was as far as she could get before falling asleep on her notes. I knew it had to be well after 2 a.m. but part of me could still not shut down enough to sleep. Everyone would be up early no doubt to prepare for the 'adventure' even though we wouldn't be leaving the Dursley's till later that evening. Almost as soon as I contemplated the possibility of sleep a small piece of parchment breezed through the window. It was not carried by owl, nor by messenger, it was as though it appeared outside the window from thin air and floated in. It wasn't any kind of charm I was familiar with but I knew it would be for me.

_H,_

_It's starting. Stay safe._

_D_

I knew I couldn't reply since it was found out that his family's manor was being used as headquarters. But I couldn't help a part of me that was dying inside at the separation. Stories like ours never did seem to have a happy ending. A modern day Romeo and Juliet on the brink of war.

The only positive thing I could say about the next day was that almost all of us survived in relatively good condition. The attack came out of nowhere, though it wasn't as if we were completely surprised. The Order's motto lately has been hope for the best but expect the worst, so we were ready to fight. The use of 7 Harry's was brilliant and it did throw the Death Eaters and Voldemort completely off guard which we were grateful for, but we still lost Mad Eye in the end, along with Harry's beloved owl Hedwig. The only other significant injuries was George losing his ear due to curse issued by Snape. The house seemed hollow even with all the extra bodies, no one spoke for the rest of the night but rather sat there listening to the sound of the fire in the hearth crackle. I couldn't help but notice Harry trying not to look at Ginny, but failing miserably.

"We should all just go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning." I mentioned to Ginny and the boys as we bid the adults goodnight and retired to our rooms. Harry went into Ron's room first, and Ginny into hers, I gave her a quick sign that I'd be inside in a moment.

"Ron." I stopped him before he could finish going up the stairs.

"Yeah?" His face was dirty and his eyes were beginning to droop in exhaustion.

"He's going to blame himself, he'll let his guard down and you know that effects his connection with _Him_." I emphasized hoping he got the implication.

"I'll keep an eye on him don't worry." He smiled and finished going upstairs. Sometimes it was a comfort to have friends that knew you so well that word's were unnecessary.

The house was in an uproar getting ready for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Harry, still in mourning over Mad Eye, refused to acknowledge his birthday in anything more than a simple cake and a nice dinner with the family. The Weasley's and the Delacour's were busy with the wedding decorations which left Harry, Ron and I to plan our horcrux chase by day, and for me and Ginny to plan our 'special happy powers' by night.

"I wish I could go with you." Ginny moaned the night before the big event. I told her everything I knew about Harry and the task we were left by Dumbledore. I knew she wouldn't tell anyone, and as much as she wanted to go, she had a responsibility to protect the students at Hogwarts next year. Her and Neville and the rest of the D.A. would be tasked with keeping an eye on the new Headmaster, Snape, as well as protecting their younger classmates with whatever changes Voldemort would have in store. It was only a matter of time after all till the Ministry fell too.

"I know, but you will serve just as great a purpose. Besides, it's dangerous for us all to be in one place until the moment its necessary. We still do not know the full use of our powers, and if we are divided then the less chance the Dark Lord will get to having our powers. He needs all four of us for his plan to work and the more spread out we are the better. You have your mission now, and I have mine and by the gods let's hope we all make it out alive." I shuddered in honesty.

"I know. I know you guys were tasked to do this. I know, logically I have my role as well. It doesn't mean I have to like it." She pouted. It helped letting her in on the information. It was the only time of the day I could pack my magically enhanced satchel with the supplies we would need when we took off. Lately Mrs. Weasley had been noticing that we were up to something and has tried everything to keep the four of us separated.

"Have you owled the others back yet?" Ginny asked while making some more comments on her notebook.

"Yes, last night. I sent Pansy and Luna the information we gathered so far. I think I've narrowed down the pattern on when the artifacts appear."

"What's the pattern?"

"Every time a major war breaks out, it seems like these artifacts appear. Not always at first, but at least by the end, and usually by the winning side. It's as though the gods or whoever send the artifacts to their individual representation to basically tilt the odds in their favor."

"So that leaves two questions. How do they decide on the 'winning' side? Also, it doesn't explain my artifact. It explains yours and Luna's, even Pansy's. But according to my mum this ring has been in the family for ages. So has it always been that way or does it become that way in time of need." I hadn't really thought about that, not thoroughly. Mine and Luna's showed up after a time of great sorrow. Pansy received hers when she was abandoned, but Ginny's was passed down through generations supposedly.

"I guess the gods chose who they want to win, to answer your first part. Which isn't the most comforting thing if you think about it. The second, I don't know. Maybe they placed a memory charm on your mum to make her think it was passed down from mother to daughter. Anything is possible." I finished with a yawn.

"That's true, hadn't thought about that. So I guess since we were chosen, and we're friends with Harry, they want us to win?"

"I hope so. But that just gives us a leg up on our opponent. It doesn't give us a guarantee. Especially since we don't know the full potential of the artifacts and how we have to use them."

"Here's hoping we don't have to just wing it." She mentioned in mock salute. I sighed in reply, we could have all the knowledge in the world and I doubt it would help. A leg up on Voldemort right now would just mean we could kill him, again, but not destroy him. As much as I hated to admit it, the horcruxes were a higher priority. Without destroying them he would just return again, like Dracula, over and over and over…

"At least the wedding tomorrow will take our minds off of it." She shrugged as she climbed under her red comforter.

"That and seeing Harry pretend to be a Weasley will definitely help." I replied.

She shuddered.

"Ugh, too incestuous…" She said with a yawn and within seconds her eyes were shut. I glanced out at the three quarter moon and gave into the sleep that I knew would be restless. Something was coming, and soon.

It seemed like the most ridiculous thing in the world. A wedding. In the middle of a war, but it was, and it was beautiful. Fleur was absolutely stunning in her dress, and Bill, though scarred from his run in with a rogue werewolf, still managed to be dashing. Ginny kept herself occupied by dancing with Viktor Krum but still would sneak glances at Harry's redhead. Harry himself was occupied it seemed by Ron's aunt and by another older gentleman who looked oddly familiar. But the biggest surprise of all was Ron, who hadn't stopped dancing with Luna since she arrived. The look on his face when he held her told me more than I ever needed to know. He may have been infatuated with Lavender, but Luna, she was something more, something special, something treasured. This was true love in its finest and I couldn't help but feel just a little bit of envy at the sight.

"Now there's something I wasn't expecting." A voice announced from over my shoulder. I was standing on the outskirts of the tent near a fairy columned pillar and apart from the crowd, so having someone behind me caused quite a shock.

"You…look familiar." It took a minute to realize who this man was. He was tall, his hair was a dark blonde almost brown. His eyes were a dark blue, and he had a small about of scruff on his chin. But it was the pointy chin and the air of superiority that made me realize that this man was all charms, in the literal and figurative sense.

"Are you insane!" I whispered at him while taking his hand and walking further into the shadows and away from the crowd.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to guess." He smirked. Oh the smirk. He could charm every physical feature about him but that smirk and the tilt of his chin would always give him away in my book. Part of me was thrilled while the other half was ready to scold him over his apparent lack of common sense.

"If they find you here they'll kill you. How did you even sneak away?" I asked. It was then I noticed the smirk turn into a frown.

"Something's going on tonight. They're planning to take the ministry. I agreed to be out waiting for the moment all the wards come down to help 'attack'. They think that I'm finally earning my place amongst them. They were happy with me after I failed to kill Dumbledore…" He trailed off and I couldn't help but notice the look of shame and guilt in his eyes.

"I should warn the others…" I said and made to turn back to the group. I looked out at friends and relatives and couldn't spoil the festivities just yet. There was time, there had to be time.

"I…I missed you." I whispered, still facing the crowd. I knew he was behind me, I felt his arms go around my waist where the flare of the dress spilled out.

"You look beautiful." He whispered in reply, taking in the dress and make up that I had done for the event. He placed a kiss on my neck and I felt my knees go weak like jelly. I had to lean back into him.

He didn't say anything then. Just grabbed my hand and led me further out where no one could find us. There was barely any light, and he began placing warning spells to notify intruders. We were still close enough to the house in case of trouble, but far enough away for privacy. He conjured a blanket and placed it on the ground.

Our hands were everywhere at once, torn between wanting to savor this moment, every last second, but needy and full of greed to get to the flesh underneath the restricted clothing. He tried twice to slow the pace but I wouldn't let him.

"Gods Granger…" He roared as his hands moved everywhere at once. I was no longer the shy virgin in the prefects bathroom, we needed as much fulfillment as we could get in a short amount of time. My bracelet, now anklet, was humming with warning that something dangerous was on its way.

"Don't talk. No time." I mentioned as I took his lips in hunger. My fingers shook as I loosened his belt buckle and unzipped his pants. I heard his breath become ragged as his hands moved under my dress to remove the restricted cloth underneath. The idea that magic could have saved us precious minutes was completely removed from our minds. Primal need replaced common sense and at the moment I didn't care if anyone caught us.

He barely had time to laugh at my comment when I straddled his hips and took him deep inside. I watched him watching me as we slowed are pace down just a little. Satisfied that at least this feeling, this fulfillment was here and the rest, the slow rise and fall of our bodies, the rising climax and need for release that would come soon. His charms were fading, his blonde hair splayed across the rough blanket, silver blue eyes shining in the light of the moon, he had never looked more beautiful, or more dangerous in his life. Without missing a beat I felt him grab my back and turn us around, always the need to be the dominant player as he slowly lowered my body back against the blanket.

"Draco…please…" I begged as he quickened the pace and my need to release was just on the edge of my vision. I felt him peak, he was almost there as well, and as he leaned down to kiss me I felt every barrier inside my body break all at once. I loved him. I loved everything about him, and yet I could never have him. He was betrothed to someone else and it killed me deep inside. I couldn't help the tear that fell from my eye that night.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he collapse his weight onto mine. I couldn't tell him, so I said the next best thing.

"I'm worried about you." I replied not wanting this moment to end. Not wanting to feel the heat of his body go away. He sat up on his elbows, taking some of the weight off my chest and looked at me with those inquisitive silver-blue eyes.

"You're worried about me?" He asked genuinely.

"Yes." I whispered in reply.

"I have little to fear in my position. I worry about you. Do not forget what I told you." He said, suddenly becoming more stern and his eyes hardening.

"That I'll survive, I promise." He helped me up and we both fixed our rather messed up dress clothes. I barely had time to kiss him one last time when the warning came from Kingsley.

"The Ministry has fallen…"


	11. Chapter Ten: The Great Escape

**AN: Okay I did exactly as I feared. I got started on another story, then school started, and I completely forgot I hadn't finished this one yet. I have great plans for it, I just got sidetracked (bad me). It's early in the semester so hopefully I can finish this quick. I hate writing as I'm going (I prefer to keep a few chapters ahead in case I can't write for awhile). So bare with me for the time. And as with my other stories, thanks again to all those reviews and alerts. It really makes my day to see them! **

**Chapter Ten**

"_Watch it burn_

_Let it die_

_Cause we are finally free tonight_

_Tonight will change our lives_

_It's so good to be by your side_

_But we'll cry_

_We won't give up the fight…"_

_~Boys Like Girls "The Great Escape"_

There is nothing more terrifying than the sound of an animal screaming: be it human or four legged creature. There's a sadness in knowing pain, in seeing pain, and in feeling pain. Consciously I was aware that no one was being killed, but as I ran to grab my two best friends I couldn't help but feel a piece of me break away at the sounds of so much sadness during something so pure, as a wedding. There's a moment when survival takes over and leaves you little time to process anything else.

"RON! HARRY!" I screamed as I caught sight of two redheaded figures. Already the Polyjuice potion was wearing off and Harry's hair color was slowly changing back to its normal black.

"Hermione!" Ron screamed in response as I grabbed his arm. He in turn grabbed Harry's arm and as we regrouped it took every ounce of courage not to turn and help fight with our friends and loved ones. Ron chanced one last look at Luna, Harry one last glance at Ginny, and me, I had barely a second to lock eyes with my blonde haired lover before turning on spot to the one place I knew we'd be safe: Grimmauld House.

I rushed the boys inside the stone house quickly, throwing a quick charm to make sure that no one else was inside before collapsing into the living room area and its dusty well worn chairs. Tears were slowly tracking down the faces of my two friends and I knew that they were hoping everyone else made it out okay.

"Look!" Ron shouted as a patronus made its way through the window. I couldn't tell initially what the shape was but it had the voice of Mr. Weasley when it spoke.

_"Everyone is okay. Stay safe."_ The patronus spoke before disappearing into nothingness. A sigh of relief went through the room as both boys stopped quietly crying to themselves.

"We should probably come up with a plan, and some clothes…" Harry mentioned as I opened my extended purse and pulled out the spare clothes I had separated weeks before.

"Maybe in the morning…" Ron suggested.

"We're safe for now. We have time to plan tomorrow how to go about looking for the horcruxes." I replied in agreement.

"Should we split up sleeping, or…" Harry left the comment open ended.

"I think it'd be best if we all bunked in the same room at least. The closer we are the safer we are." I replied back.

"What are the chances that Kreacher will cook for us?" Ron joked, always thinking with his stomach first.

"1000 to 1?" Harry jokingly replied back to his redheaded friend.

Awhile later when Ron was upstairs changing and showering from earlier, and Harry was busy attempting to sweet talk Kreacher into making us something edible, I took the time to write a quick note to Ginny, Luna and Pansy. I wasn't sure how I was going to get them the letters yet, seeing as how we had no owl, but I was hoping Harry would be able to talk Kreacher into delivering at least one of the letters and from there the girls could talk amongst themselves…hopefully. I had barely finished the short letters to them when a note floated into the room once again. This time I knew it was from Draco, though I had forgot to ask him what spell he was using.

_H,_

_ I hope this finds you well and safe. Be cautious, there's a particular name that seems to be _cursed _as of late. Let me know if you need help with anything. This letter is secure, write a reply and it'll find its way back._

_ D._

If he revolutionized this particular spell he'd put owls out of business. Then again, according to Harry the workers of the Ministry used a spell similar to this that allowed interdepartmental notes to float between offices, perhaps he modified the spell to travel further distances.

_D,_

_ We are safe and well. Thank you for the warning. We are searching for a particular necklace, something so pretty that even the great Serpent Himself, way back when would have enjoyed. Any clues?_

_ H._

I had barely scratched the "H" on the note when it disappeared where it came from.

"What was that?" Harry asked as he came back into the sitting room carrying a plate full of ham sandwiches.

"Just a helpful tipper. It seems the Dark Lord has his name cursed so we can't mention it out loud, though I wasn't told what the consequences are of saying it." I conveniently left out the part about the locket since no one else was supposed to know about our mission. Though it seems that I was telling more and more people these days…

"I smell food!" Ron shouted as he bounced his way back into the sitting area with the rest of us.

"Kreacher was polite enough to make us the sandwiches. You're right, Hermione. I guess being nice to the bugger pays off."

"Careful, Harry. Don't let him hear you or this could be our last meal he offers." I whispered in reply.

"Anyone else taking a shower tonight?" Ron asked as he pulled up his blanket and dug into his sandwich.

"No, I'll wait till morning." I replied, Harry nodded as well. Perhaps sleep would come to us gracefully tonight?

I should have known that it wouldn't be a peaceful sleep for any of us. I was the last to fall asleep, though it didn't look as though Ron or Harry was having any success either at the time. Both boys were thrashing about uneasily, most likely reliving the horror of the days event, even though our loved ones got out alive.

_"Where am I?" I asked to no one in particular as I took in my surroundings. Once again it seemed as though I was in a wooded area, the same one I had visited not long before. This time there was no lion, but rather a wolf. The great grey wolf was walking along a dirt path, bidding me to follow him. Nervously I followed him, knowing that there was little harm that could come to me in my dreams, unlike Harry's._

_ "You again." I exclaimed as the woman in the white dress was once again sitting on a rock near a pool of water._

_ "I take it by now you know who I am." The woman with the curly brown hair and white dress smiled. She seemed older this time, though I imagine she can resemble any age, young or old. She was the unofficial Mother Earth after all._

_ "Yes. You are Gaia. My…protector?" I replied a bit uncertain who exactly to term the woman._

_ "Yes. I am more than your protector, Hermione. Think of me as your mother, if you will. I was responsible for your birth as were my accomplices for the births of your friends. You are a piece of me, mortal though, on earth." She replied with a sad smile. I wasn't sure what else to do so I sat down beside her._

_ "Are you going to tell me what exactly you want us to do?" I asked, not wasting time, knowing that I could be awoken at any moment by my friends or by danger._

_ "I will tell you what I can, but the rest is for you to discover on your own. Right now my fellow sisters are visiting their own children and informing them of their own roles. You are aware of our names, our mythologies, correct?" _

_ "Yes. You are a Greek Goddess, Ran is a Norse Goddess, Inanna Mesopotamian, and Brigid Celtic." I quoted back to the older woman. She smiled in reply._

_ "No need to ask us about whom and what we represent, correct?" She asked. I nodded in affirmation._

_ "The world is made up of hundreds of stories of gods, goddesses, creation, and other forms of theology. You could say we all exist, in the minds of those that believe in us. For the devout catholic, there is only_ God, _and no other, so we do not exist to them. But the world of magic is different, because your powers, your gifts, do not allow for the Catholic believer to understand. To him, or her, only God can create and no other. So we cannot influence him, nor he us. With me so far?" _

_ "I think so." I replied truthfully._

_ "The old religions, us, we have mated with humans, have influenced humans, for so long that even when the non-magical beings stopped believing in us, we still remained to the magical world, and have continued so for thousands of years. The Celtics in particular have an extraordinary amount of influence in your world, and my friend Brigid was so popular that they even sainted her in Christianity."_

_ "But how can you all…coexist?"_

_ "Magic in found in different worlds in different ways. Like I mentioned, we all exist for you because we have all influenced you. But the world today is nowhere near the world that had existed back during our 'glory' days, if you were. But most importantly, we all work together, at least us women do. The men would rather see you all kill each other, but then again…they're men, so no surprise there. I hate to inform you but deity or human there's not much difference in personality at its heart." We both took a moment to laugh at that._

_ "So a representative of each of the main European based deities, goddesses, decided to pull together and help mankind. When your kind are about to annihilate one another, we each send a representative to earth to pull in favor of one side, usually the side of 'good', the one not above world domination and other negative traits. We send a piece of ourselves, and our powers, to aid and help, however we have no control over the final outcome, that is for you to decide, essentially, in the end."_

_ "But what do we DO, exactly. How can we 'access' the powers you give us."_

_ "You will discover that when that moment arises. Is it any wonder that you four were chosen? You are all strong, independent and powerful young woman. There was never any doubt that you were the four. HIS greatest weakness is doubting those around him, not trusting in those around him, otherwise he wouldn't have to look far to know that what he seeks has been under his slit of a nose the whole time."_

_ "So that's it? The great mystery? We just wait and see until the end how we are to be used?" It seemed a bit unfair honestly._

_ "I know it makes you unhappy, but you have to trust us. You are not the first of the chosen who have doubted yourselves or yours/our power. There have been other great wars, other battles before you. You are an academic, you know this to be true."_

_ She was right. There were worse wars than ours in our times: both Great World Wars, the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and so on back in time. Each war came through in the end, and if this goddess was right, they influenced the winning side._

_ "I see you finally understand what I'm trying to tell you. Now go, sleep, be safe and use that brain I gave you." She smiled in reply. I no longer had my own mother, I guess she would have to do as the next best substitute besides Mrs. Weasley, of course._

_ "Thank you." I said as I followed the gray wolf back out of the woods. _

Morning came way too quickly for my liking, and that of the boys who groaned in response not long after I opened my eyes to the blinding sun filtering through the cloudy windows. On my pillow, resting, was a piece of parchment from the other day.

_H,_

_ I went to work with father yesterday. It seems toads and serpents have similar taste in jewelry lately. Stay safe. With love._

_ D._

"Damn it all to Hell!" I swore loudly, definitely waking up the boys from their semiconscious state.

"What? What is that?" Ron asked after blinking the sleep from his eyes. Harry pulled on his glasses and craned his head over to try to read the writing on the sheet.

"I know where the locket is…" I trailed off already dreading what I knew they would ask next.

"Where? And how can you be sure?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Umbridge has it. She's working back for the Ministry. Please don't ask me how I know, I'll tell you someday I promise. There's someone helping us. I trust this person, completely." I stated in finality. Both boys barely listened past the word "Umbridge."

"We have to break into the Ministry of Magic?" Ron's voice went up an octave as he too began dreading the plan ahead.

"Looks like, mate. Any ideas on where to start?" Harry asked, looking in my direction. I guess I was the rock gluing these two together.

"I have an idea. Harry, you still have your dad's cloak right?" I asked him as he nodded in affirmation.

"We'll take turns, gathering information and staking out the entrance. As soon as we can we'll use what we gather and go inside undercover. Harry I need you to ask Kreacher to gather some materials for us. We're going to have to brew some polyjuice again and I only have a limited supply of stuff with me. Think he'll do it?"

"He should. If not I'll call Dobby to steal some from Hogwarts. School isn't in session yet he should be able to sneak into Slughorn's cabinets undetected and get us what we need."

"Alright, you work on that. Ron, you know about the Ministry more than any of us, do you mind taking first watch and gathering some information awhile?"

"No that's fine." He replied, finally excited to be doing something besides sitting around.

"I need to write a few letters quick that I'll need Kreacher to deliver than I'll get started on what I have with the Polyjuice Potion. It'll take a month to brew again, so we have plenty of time." With plans in place both boys got started on their mission. I myself had a nice long letter to write to the girls about my dream and to see what information their familiars gave them. But first I had another note to write.

_D,_

_ Thank you. I miss you so._

_ H._

And in an instant the parchment was once again gone and our motives and energy set on the task at hand.


	12. Chapter Eleven: A Thousand Years

**AN: End of semester finally. And all the hard work paid off. I'm going to try my hardest to finish both stories during these next few weeks off. I'll probably just work exclusively on this one for the moment and then finish the other one afterwards. I feel awful that I have let it go for so long, and I love and appreciate all the positive feedback I'm getting from all of my stories (you guys are totally awesome!) So I'm forcing my inner muse to wake up and give me some inspiration for this story (I know the ending, it's the in between I always struggle with! J). Now onto the next chapter!**

**Chapter 11**

"_Time stands still_

_Beauty in all she is_

_I will be brave_

_I will not let anything take away_

_What's standing in front of me_

_Every breath_

_Every hour has come to this_

_One step closer…_

_I have died every day waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I love you for a thousand more…"_

_~Christina Perri_

If you stop and think about it, Disney is really to blame for all the positive outlooks of fairy tales on our generation. The Grim Brothers did not always offer the happy ending in their stories, and almost always was there a trail of blood and tears to get to the end of the road. Had we grown up knowing the original endings, the struggle and the bloodlust, maybe we wouldn't enter into the world with the naiveté that so many of my fellow classmates endured. Maybe we would have been better prepared for the tests and trials that lay ahead in the near future. In some ways Harry was the luckiest of us all. He was born with nothing, knew nothing, and struggled to endure years of torture at the hands of the only family he had left. He grew up knowing that life was difficult and to take joy in the most precious of memories, the few and rare happy moments he had allowed himself over the years. The rest of us grew up in our cozy families, sheltered, loved, spoiled perhaps not in material things but in knowing that we would always have a roof over our head, warm clothes, and a hot meal waiting three times a day. The world was cruel, cold, and did not care about the individual whims and well wishes of its people. Perhaps the existentialists had it right all along. The most we can hope for in our life is to do the most good when possible and avoid the plague of the world around us.

"So what is the game plan for tomorrow, Hermione?" Ron asked as we were once again huddled in the front parlor room sipping coffee and snacking on the small feast our resident house elf had provided us.

"The potion will be ready by morning. It just needs one last ingredient to be added at midnight. We have 48 hours to utilize the potion before it becomes ineffective so I would suggest if we are all prepared," I looked at both boys and they nodded in affirmation. "They we should be ready to go tomorrow first thing. We each have our ministry officials that we are tailing so there should be no problems there. We know, remotely where Umbridge's office is located though with all the trials taking place with Muggleborn's, she may not necessarily be there. We only have one hour so we cannot afford to relax for a single moment. She most likely will be wearing the necklace, though there is a possibility that she may leave it in her office."

"Or at home." Ron interjected.

"Yes, but I'm trying to think positive Ronald." I sighed. It was the truth though no matter how much I did not want to entertain that possibility. When it came to women and jewelry, we become fickle and may not always wear the same thing every day. Certain earrings were meant to be worn with certain outfits, etc. The only hope I could work with was that the horcrux's power would dominate her fashion sense and she would most likely not take it off anytime soon.

"Each of us should then split up, to cover every possible area she could be. Hermione, your ministry official would probably work best covering her office if possible. Mine is more burly like a security guard so I could tail her if she's involved with the trials in the courtroom. What do you think Ron? Where would your guy work best?" Harry asked his ginger companion beside him.

"The maintenance guys are always seen coming and going all over the ministry. I think he would work best on the floor constantly moving about to see any changes or listen to any particular gossip that could help us. We have the coins to communicate with in case of emergency so we don't have anything to worry about there." Ron explained, knowing more about how each of the different department officials worked best. I felt my heart swell in pride at the two boys before me. It was the first time I had seen Ron lose his boyhood candor and act responsibly like a true adult. All of us, all three of us had been forced to grow up before our time. If we survived, if we can successfully destroy these horcruxes and Voldemort in the process, I hope we will be able to make up for that maturity with at least a few years of adolescent stupidity and fun. Maybe a nice long vacation in Fiji…

"I see those wheels moving a mile a minute, 'Mione." Harry smiled as he looked up from our ministry floor plans in front of us.

"I was just thinking how proud I am of both of you. And that after this we could all use some mojito's and a weekend in the sun on some far away island somewhere." I replied matching Harry's smile with one of my own.

"It's getting late. You both need your sleep. I'll be back down as soon as I'm done with the potion."

"Goodnight Hermione." Harry yawned while moving over towards his green sleeping bag.

"Night 'Mione." Ron called as he got up from his comfortable floor spot to the couch in the corner where he was currently bunking for the night.

I walked up to the second floor bedrooms quietly so as not to disturb the portrait of Mrs. Black. No need to listen to her scream "Mudblood!" at me at this late hour of the evening. I had forbade the boys from coming up to the room with the pretense that I didn't trust them to not screw up the potion, but the reality was also that it was where my letters from the others arrived and waited for me to read them.

_H,_

_ Did you have the same wacky dream as I did? I talked to Luna and it seems we were both paid with a visit from a "higher power". They didn't seem to say much except that we would know how to use said artifacts when the time was right. Any theories? And any word from Pug?_

_G_

I knew it would be hard to get Ginny to consent to any involvement from the Slytherin Princess, but in the grand scheme of things, calling her Pug was probably as nice as the fiery redhead could muster for the time being. Placing her note aside I glanced at the other two, knowing immediately who they were from.

_H,_

_ I trust that _someone_ has informed you about the curse on _HIS_ name. I am also going to assume that you had also received the same dream as me from your "protector". I am not sure on what your theory about the specialties are, but my own understanding is that there is nothing more or less we can get from the artifacts until the "end" if you get my meaning. That is to say it will not affect our current power levels nor grant us anything other than our innate magical abilities. Any thoughts? Business aside, I want to beg your forgiveness ahead of time for what will be posted in tomorrow's Daily Prophet. There is nothing we can do and please know how much it pains both of us. The best of luck._

_ P_

Now what could that possibly be about? I glanced at the date of the letter and it was post marked for today. We have only been reading scraps of news from the Prophet lately as most of what is posted is lies told by the Dark Lord's followers and fluff to cover up the deaths and deplorable conditions happening around the country. Lastly, placing Pansy's message aside I glanced at the smallest letter, and most important. My blonde haired informant.

_H,_

_ I love you. I love you with all that is left of me. Please know that. I'm sorry._

_ D._

Something big was happening in tomorrow's news and it seemed no one wanted to tell me outright but rather apologize for what I did not know. I had my hypothesis, and it wasn't looking rather good at the moment. I still had an hour before the potion ingredient needed to be added, so I began writing my return correspondences. There was too much to do, too easy to lose focus about tomorrow's mission, I couldn't think about my personal life right now.

_G,_

_ Yes I have heard from P, and it seems both her and I have come to the same conclusion after all of our dream experiences. Keep your artifacts on you at all times as they will only be useful during that final battle whenever that takes place. Essentially it will give us no more specialties than a last ditch power boost and therein lies no hidden powers or abilities other than that intended moment. What we have is what the 'powers that be' have gifted us initially: a keep independent and strong mind. We all have our own special abilities and we need to utilize them in however manner we can. It is too dangerous to risk talking to P in the castle but find your own ways to get messages across. And please don't do anything rash or stupid at school. I know you G….Keep me posted._

_ H_

I wrote a similar note to Pansy, affirming that hers and my theories about our special abilities were one and the same. I left out anything referencing her apologies or whatever news is going to be posted, but rather I ended the note with reminding her that no matter what is happening, the mission, our mission and the Order's overall mission is the most important and anything personal would have to wait until I had the time to deal with it after the war. It was quarter to midnight and the potion was already starting to take on its desired gray effect. Gray, silver, like the color of his eyes…

_D,_

_ You have no need to apologize to me. Whatever it is we will deal with is. We came into this without any expectations, knowing the limits of what we could and could not be, do, and say. I love you, and nothing will change that, not even death._

_ H._

His message disappeared immediately while the other two left with the school owl's that they had arrived on. It seemed so melodramatic, talking about life and death and love. So Romeo and Juliet like. But it was as truthful as I could make it considering the circumstances. There was a very real possibility that the three of us: Ron, Harry, and I would not accomplish our goals. That we could essentially lose this war or one of all of us get captured in the process. The Goddess did not promise a happy ending for the individual, just a positive outcome over all. War in any form comes with a price; people would die, for that was inevitable. People had already died on both sides, both times, and in all kinds of ways. Pretending that couldn't happen to either of us was just sugarcoating a reality that most likely wouldn't come true. I was not a child anymore, and that kind of fairy tales did not offer consolation in the middle of the night when I dreamed of the few precious moments we shared together in our short lives.

With the last of the ingredient added I turned off the flame and set the cauldron aside to cool. There would be time enough in the morning to divvy it up for the three of us, and until then leaving it cooling in the spare room would no effect the potion in any way. Tiptoeing past the snoring young men, I fell into a deep sleep the moment my head hit the dull pillow on the floor beside Ron.

The next morning I could tell the boys were covering up their nervousness with idle banter.

"Remind me that, depending on the outcome of this experience, to cross maintenance Ministry worker off the list of future career moves." Ron joked while buttoning up his blue shirt. Beside him the Boy Who Lived chuckled.

"I thought we were going to be Auror's?" Harry replied, throwing on his worn out trainers.

"Well if we're successful they may not have need of them in the future, right?" The redhead replied uncertainly.

"Ron, honestly, just because we defeat one crazed wizard doesn't mean there won't be another to take his place sometime. Didn't you ever pay attention in History of Magic?" I smiled my retort to show that my comment was meant in humor and not anger of any sort.

"Yeah I suppose you're right. Though after this experience I think I want the least complicated job. Maybe professional Quidditch…"

"You could serve tea at Madam Puddifoot's? That seems like a low stress job?" Harry added in good humor.

"All those teenage hormones?" Forgetting of course he was a walking teenage hormone most days. "Forget it! Nothing stress free about that mate!" Both boys laughed quietly as the nature of the next few minutes began to hit home.

"I suppose we should be off then?" I said, not wanting to waste another minute. Sometimes delaying the inevitable just made things much more complicated.

We apparated to a nearby alley and waited for our chosen ministry officials to appear. Since everyone now had to use the same entrance, it was easier to keep tabs on the directions they arrived from and how they were delivered into the hidden building.

"Here they come." Harry whispered as we all tensed in anticipation.

While flushing oneself into a toilet sounds appalling in itself, the most appalling sight was the one that met us inside the ministry room. A new statue had been erected with the words "Magic is Might". The bodies of Muggles and Muggleborns were squashed underneath.

"Putting Mudbloods in their place I assume." I whispered to Harry's newly altered body on my right.

"We will fix this." He said, gently squeezing my hand in assurance before the three of us walked into the main doors and towards our separate destinations. I almost missed it, having not seem much of the stories posted lately. If it hadn't been the main headline, I may never have known…

'Oh goddess…'

_**Malfoy Heir marries longtime fiancé!**_


	13. Chapter Twelve: Some Nights

**AN: So I'm sorry I let this story go for so long. I lost the notes I wrote for how I wanted it to go and about the plot and characters (no idea where I put it), so I'm just winging it for now. I hate leaving things unfinished. Starting from here it's going to be touch and go with following the books (not like it hasn't been the whole time anyway). Obviously it's not going to follow completely but I'm trying to at least follow the main aspects with the exception of the change I made where the power of the four replaces the need for the Deathly Hallows. **

**(P.S. I'm sure there's a ton of grammar issues and maybe some spelling because I'm using my old computer and the keyboard sticks a bit. I apologize. But I want to finish this story (preferably tonight because classes start again tomorrow) and I'm a bit hurried while the idea stays fresh in the mind and all).**

**Chapter Twelve: Some Nights**

"_Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck  
Some nights I call it a draw  
Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle  
Some nights I wish they'd just fall off_

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost  
Oh, Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh  
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?  
Most nights I don't know anymore..."

_~Fun "Some Nights"_

There's a moment of clarity when all logical reasoning and thought go out the window in favor of sheer emotional distress. Most of the time people call it 'shock', sometimes 'numbness', but in any case part of the brain seems to malfunction and you are left with basic survival functions and primitive animalistic fury.

'It's not possible, he wouldn't do that to me.' I preached to myself over and over willing the words to suddenly change. I noticed both boys staring at me, wondering why I had stalled in our progress towards Umbridge's hearings. A brave smile graced my lips while inside my heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. A pureblood wizard marriage is for eternity. A clause written into law a long time ago to prevent straying husbands from leaving their wives to marry younger women.

'Think of the job, Hermione. You have a job to do, your personal life does not fit into that plan. Besides, there's still no guarantee that we will all live through this in the end.' Well that was mildly comforting…

I followed Harry's polyjuiced form towards the elevator, watching as Ron was called away to attend a crisis of sorts in someone's office. Harry remained relatively quiet, not sure how to portray his character's voice, but realizing that the guy was more of the quiet type anyway. I knew I couldn't hide the nervousness in my stance, still uncomfortable in this new skin and the poorly fitted outfit the woman chose for the day. I rubbed the bracelet on my wrist for comfort, tucked loosely into the cuff of the long sleeved blouse out of sight of onlookers.

The first thing we noticed as we approached Umbridge was how dark and cold the room felt. Dementors filled the ceiling of the room, floating, eager for a chance to take a soul. A patronus cat was their sole barrier. On her platform, looking like the Queen of Hearts in all her sick glory, stood the toad like figure of our former Hogwarts professor. A small smirk graced the corners of her mouth as she watched her victim below. For in truth they were all victims, Muggleborns, because in this new world no testimony they could give would ever be good enough. The lucky ones returned to the Muggle world, sad, but alive. The not so lucky ones…well, from what we had heard of Dark Revel's in the past, a quick death would be the most welcome.

The next 20 minutes could roughly be described as some of the most terrifying we had experienced since the Ministry encounter in 5th year. Harry, being his usual rash self, couldn't stand any longer to watch the woman being interrogated and created a chaotic diversion that has us running for our lives towards the Atrium and Ron to escape. Unfortunately two of them latched on to our clothes and discovered the home we had taken refuge in. No longer being safe I thought of the only place I could that would hopefully be unpopulated: the Forest of Dean.

"Where are we, Hermione?" Harry asked as I grabbed a bottle of Dittany to place onto Ron's wounds. He has splinched his arm in the rush to leave the Ministry.

"Forest of Dean, my parents and I camped here one summer. It was the only place I could think of that wouldn't be populated this time of year. Harry, watch him for me." I said glancing at Ron's deep even breathing. Harry kept lightly applying the medicine to his arm until the skin began to close itself. Grabbing my wand I began placing a barrier around us to ensure that no one would discover our whereabouts.

"Is it safe?" Harry asked a few minutes later.

"Yes. We must be careful to stay inside the boundaries though. How are your tent skills?" I tried to lightly joke while noticing the locket in his right hand. I smiled knowing that our efforts were not in vain.

"Adequate at best; did you bring a tent?"

"Yes, it's not as nice as the one from the Quidditch World Cup, and I'm certain it smells a bit funny, but it's warm and has enough beds for each of us." Undoing the string on the purple bag I placed my hand in to grab the contents of the tent. After some mild cursing and two failed attempts, we managed to figure out how the contraption worked and levitated Ron inside to one of the beds to sleep off the pain.

"We need a plan of action, Harry."

"I know. Dumbledore never told me how to destroy a Horcrux, just ideas on what they were and where they could be. I can't even open it."

"We should be careful with it, there's no telling what it could do to one of us. We'll take turns wearing it to be safe." I responded.

"I suppose. What about watch standing? We should probably keep one of us outside to be safe at all times."

"Agreed. Do you need sleep or would you rather stand watch first?" I asked him, hoping he would actually go to sleep so I could write to the others about what happened.

"Do you mind taking first watch? I just need to lay down for a little while and recharge. Once Ron is awake we can figure out where to go next."

"Okay. Goodnight Harry." I smiled as he went inside the tent to change out of the oversized clothes and into his own. Grabbing paper and a quill I pulled out a small piece of paper, writing only to Ginny to relay to the others. I wasn't ready yet for Pansy, I didn't think I ever would be, truly, but it was inevitable. I could not hate her for protecting herself, she was helping us and our cause and for that we were grateful, and her cover would have been blown had she defied the orders of her parents and not married Draco; but that didn't mean I had to accept it, didn't change the pain I felt knowing that they were locked in eternal bonds not to be broken until one of their deaths, or a change in Ministry law (fat chance there).

_G,_

_Relay to the others, mission was a success, minor injuries. We are safe in my natural element. I had an idea: while we temporarily hold the source of our protector's powers (or rather a portion of it), there's a possibility we can tap into that source, manipulate their element or whatever it was they could do on Earth. I'm going to practice and see what results ensue. I suggest you all do the same and see who can figure it out first. How is everything there?_

_H_

The idea had merit and was a long shot at best. The theory being that the artifacts our goddesses had given us represent them, are a piece of them, and therefore contain a source of their power. Tapping into that power source while wearing the artifact could give us a power boost, particularly if we ever find ourselves without a wand. If each goddess represented an alchemic element, then we potentially could control a part of that element for our use.

"Dobby?" I spoke aloud softly so as to not wake the inhabitants of the tent. Knowing that the house elf would respond cheerfully and seeing as how he was currently employed at the school where the girls resided was a helpful bonus.

"Dobby at your service miss!" His large globe eyes and cheery smile were always a warm welcome. I had hoped in the past to liberate his species into better living situations but unfortunately as the war progressed I had to succumb to focusing my attention on Harry and the cause. Some day…

"Dobby, could you do me a huge favor and deliver these to Ginny Weasley in Gryffindor?"

"Absolutely miss! Dobby helps Harry Potter's friends any time!" And with a pop he was gone. In all the chaos I had missed a letter floating into my lap. Seeing the handwriting I knew instantly who it was and what it was about.

_H,_

_Please tell me you are okay. I heard about what happened. I trust your mission was successful. HE was getting impatient, claiming all purebloods reaching age 17 should marry immediately to ensure a long life and procurement of as many offspring as possible. No attempts at stalling till after school worked and we bowed to our superiors. I know you are aware of the terms of pureblood marriages, and please know that depending on what happens in the future, we are trying to find a way to break those bonds. She is one of my closest friends, but you are the only girl I will ever love. Please know that. Stay safe._

_D_

Sighing I once again grabbed the quill and pondered how I could reply without breaking the last bit of composure I had left in me.

_D,_

_We are safe. I appreciate the tip off, it proved successful in the end. I understand why you needed to do what you did. There will be time enough in the future to deal with the emotional aspects of all of this. For now we have our missions to uphold and that will have to be enough. I will never stop loving you._

_H_

The message disappeared as soon as the 'H' was written. The tears threatened to come, demanded to come, but I couldn't allow them. Too much was at stake already to give in to emotional turmoil. I needed to assess my theory before the boys awakened.

'_Gaia is Mother Earth, she is the rock, the foundation of life. She is steady. She is life. From the soil beneath our toes to the animals that roam the woods, she protects them all.'_

Earth. Stone, soil, trees, animals. That was her power, that would be my power. My magic came from her, as no other held magic in my family line. She had given me life, she had chosen for me to join the magical world, and so I would utilize the source of what made her who she was. What was uncertain was the need for enchantments. Wizards and Witches relied on wands and Latin incantations to provide the source of spell they needed. When the gods mingled with humans and created the first race of magical beings, did they too need the props that we used? Could they use the magic from within with just a wave of their hand or a thought? The first must have been the strongest and the best of us, generations later though powerful we retain only a fraction of that power initially given. But my line was still pure, unlike the other women I had no other trace of magic in my family.

Starting small I placed my hands on the earth beneath me and closed my eyes. I tried to feel what She would feel, the heart of the earth, the steady beating that sustained life for millions of years. I could feel it, the pulse, the coolness of its touch, the heat of the core, and willed my fingertips suctioned back the life force I felt. But still nothing happened.

There was a tree at the edge of our boundaries whose roots extended deep into the ground below it. Having not much success with the soil I turned to another source of earth's power.

Placing my fingertips along the rough bark and once again closing my eyes and willing my inner core to connect to the old tree. Still not certain what exactly I was expecting to happen…

It was then I felt it, the movement of life beneath my hand. Opening my eyes and looking up I saw the branches start to sway ever so slightly. It was as though the tree was an extension of my own arm and the branches my new fingertips. I channeled all my energy into willing them to move, back and forth, back and forth. The thrill was invigorating much like the first time a student performs their first spell correctly or their first kiss with someone they love; pure unabated elation.

Knowing that tree roots extend deep into the ground and mingle amongst the others I attempted to branch out and see if I could move not just one tree, but several simultaneously. It would take severe concentration to control multiple branches but I could not pass up the opportunity that the forest afforded me; especially knowing that tomorrow could take us somewhere else entirely.

The process was the same except that part of me willed my energy up into the branches while the rest went deep down into the roots. While I did not have an artistic mind like Luna, I was still a very visual learner with an excellent photographic memory. I pictured the roots of the trees touching each other, like children holding hands in primary school for field trips. Interconnected, communicating with one another, like earth's own personal internet. I felt them, all the ones in the area, the entire forest network. Switching hands so the hand with the bracelet was the one connected to the tree I focused on just moving the braches ever so slightly. It took a moment, just a few seconds for the message to go through as I begged for them to listen to me. And then it happened, a slight sway of braches, a rustling of limbs all around me. It sounded as though the wind had picked up but really it was the movement of the trees, the pulse of their life beating against the palm of my hand. The thrill of this small bit of power was intoxicating, unfortunately it was also noisy and woke up the others instantly. I moved away so as not to give myself away.

"Is someone coming?" Ron asked bleary eyed from sleep and the medication wearing off.

"No, I think the wind just picked up." I commented nonchalantly and walked back towards the tent to them.

"While we're all awake, let's figure out what we're going to do next." Harry stated and kept the door open so we could all head back inside the semi-safe confines of the slightly off smelling tent.

"Okay so we have the horcrux, but no way of knowing how to destroy it. We still need to figure out what other objects there could be that He would have used." I started as we took seats around the small breakfast table. The tent was not very roomy, but rather functional and relatively cozy. More importantly it was warm and safe.

"The memories Dumbledore showed me and from our discussions it was concluded that He valued important magical artifacts. The necklace and the ring are both from Slytherin, the diary was his memories and proof that he is Slytherin's heir. One memory we looked at showed a woman who collected rare objects, something about a chalice or some kind of cup that held value. Do you know of anything like that Hermione?" Harry asked turning towards me, knowing that I was itching to write to my secret source much the same way I did when we were looking for the necklace.

"Not particularly, as I'm no Indiana Jones, but my source might." Harry got the joke; Ron just looked on confused about who or what 'Indiana Jones' is.

"Someday Ronald, we will teach you about Muggle cinema." Harry replied with a laugh.

"I still don't trust your source, Hermione. Who is this person who keeps giving you information? How do we know we can trust them?" Ron asked, letting his anger show a bit.

"I know I promised I would tell you guys some day but I can't just yet. Believe me I know this person would not put us in jeopardy. And not all of my correspondences are to him. I've been communicating with Ginny too in code to see how things are at the school. It's safe, and furthermore it's helpful." At the mention of Ginny I saw Harry's eyes cloud over with a faraway look of sadness. Ron just nodded in understanding, not liking what I was telling him, but not pushing the issue any further.

"What has she said?" Harry asked not long later.

"She hasn't said much that we didn't already know. Just about the taboo and stuff. I'm waiting on a new reply soon. I asked Dobby to deliver it while you were sleeping. I should hear back by tonight."

"What are we gonna do about food?" Naturally that question came from Ron who it was no secret had an endless pit of a stomach.

"I have some nonperishable items saved in my bag but I do not think they will last us very long. We will eventually have to venture into town at some point and pick up some supplies. Disguised of course. The tent doesn't accommodate too much so anything we get will have to be able to be cooked the old fashioned way with a fire and a pan. If we're quiet we could attempt to fish in the pond here, but we'll have to use a disillusionment charm. I have a feeling we will not always be the only ones in the woods. Plenty of people may seek refuge here with the Muggleborn hunts going on."

Dinner that night consisted of various canned food items: beans, tuna, and some apples I had grabbed that morning before leaving for the ministry. Harry didn't seem to mind the light fare, as he had grown up in a household that constantly underfed him. Ron however seemed to take being on the run the hardest as he had always been taken care of by others with plenty to eat. As we were cleaning up the dishes, Ron agreeing to take the next watch as he had slept all morning to recover from injury, Dobby appeared with a quiet 'pop' to deliver Ginny's response. He didn't stay long, just enough to bid hello to his favorite person (Harry) and to ask if we needed anything else, then he was gone as quickly as he had emerged.

_H,_

_I passed your message to P(ug) and L. P hasn't had any luck tampering with her element, but L claims she made waves on the lake (not sure if I trust that one, the lake always has waved from the giant squid but whatever). They agree with your theory. This place has become a prison, but we are protecting those we can. The serpent replacement rules with indifference and his new henchmen (twin professors of doom) toss punishment that would make a Roman cringe. I'm still reading up on my element, attempting work with a single candle first. I will let you know how it goes. Send my love to your male counterparts._

_G._

"Ginny says the situation at school isn't well. Snape apparently is Headmaster and watches on as students are tortured by two new professors. Ginny called them the 'twin professors of doom'. Must be Death Eaters of some sort. She's trying to help when she can. I imagine she probably enlisted the help of Dumbledore's Army, or at the least Neville and Luna."

"Any word yet on your 'source'." Harry asked, half interested, half sarcastic.

"Not yet."

The missive from Draco came later, after we had both fallen asleep. The morning sun was rising and Ron was just getting off watch to switch with Harry when I noticed the paper lying on the pillow next to my head.

_H,_

_Things are looking worse here. He is getting impatient with your disappearances and suspects that you know about the 'stones'. I suspected you were a holder the minute I saw your bracelet, knowing your power and lack of lineage it wasn't difficult to put the two together. I also suspect you have a fair idea of who else holds them. Keep the information guarded if you do, for it if breaks out we will have a worse blood bath on our hands than before. I suspect my bound other half is also a carrier as she constantly has a knowing look in her eye when she catches me reading these notes. She will neither confirm nor deny the claim or about being in your good graces. There are teams of Snatchers everywhere. Mostly they're half bloods or some other underdog magical being looking to find rise in His regime. They scour woods, towns, and cities and they're plentiful in number. Be careful. Be safe._

_D._

"There are Snatchers, bands of lesser magical blooded beings roaming the woods, towns and cities all across the country. They say that they're numerous and are looking to find favor on His side; to rise up the ranks so to speak." I tell them as I get up from the bed to write a reply. Harry peaked his head in and Ron looked up from his cold breakfast.

"So they could be here looking for us too." Harry mentioned first.

"It's a significant possibility."

"Did you write about the cup thing yet?" Ron asked while openly chewing his cereal.

"No, I'm about to now. I don't know the traveling spell they use for the paper so I have to wait for them to send it first then I reply."

"What kind of spell is it?" Harry curiously asked.

"It looks like a modified version of what they use to deliver interoffice correspondences in the Ministry. Only it can travel long distance and is much more secure and encrypted.

"I think I might know that spell. Dad mentioned it before. But if it's modified then it won't work anyway I guess." Ron retorted back.

_D,_

_If one were thirsty and wanted to refresh themselves with a Cup of water, where would one search? I'm particularly interested in one that someone important would have used once upon a time?_

_H._

Once again the missive disappeared as I dotted behind the 'H'. I figured with his schedule being busy between being a Death Eater and being at school his reply would take longer, but I had a response within minutes. He must have been skipping his morning class today.

_H,_

_I can only think of one that comes to mind. Such an inconsequential object could only be found by badgers. Unfortunately it resides in an underground home of a crazed familial houseguest._

_D._

It took a moment to decipher his reply. Scary as it was we were getting more in tune with our codes and translations since the first one. I gave the news to the others.

"Does anyone know if Hufflepuff had a cup? It's how I deciphered the message, and that it resides in a Gringott's vault held by Bellatrix Lestrange."

"It makes sense doesn't it? He liked important magical artifacts. He used Slytherin's items, so naturally he had to have something from Hufflepuff." Harry responded.

"And we have to break into one of the toughest Wizarding Banks. Bellatrix's vault would be where the oldest pureblood vaults are located at the very depths of the bank itself. I hear they're protected by dragons!" Ron shouted back, agitated that once again we'd have to somehow find a way to break into someplace.

"Do you think there are others?" I asked Harry.

"Other what?"

"Other artifacts of the founders. Would he even have used Gryffindor?"

"I doubt it. The only known Gryffindor object is the sword which is in the Headmaster's office. Not to mention He knew Slytherin and Gryffindor hated one another. But he could have used something from Ravenclaw. I just don't know what he would have had."

"We would need to ask someone from Ravenclaw. Or you could ask your 'source' again." Ron retorted.

"I can try. But we'd probably have a better chance at asking a Ravenclaw. And I know the perfect person." I smiled.

"Who?" They both asked simultaneously.

"Luna of course." I smiled back._DDD_


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Titanium

**Chapter Thirteen: Titanium**

"_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose  
Fire away, fire away  
Ricochet, you take your aim  
Fire away, fire away  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium"_

_~David Guetta "Titanium"_

It was said long ago that Pandora opened the box that released the world's evils. Terrified that she had doomed others of her kind she quickly closed the box, afraid of anything else coming out. She refused to touch it again for a long time, and those around her blamed her for what was going on as people turned into monsters filled with greed, lust, anger, rage, etc. But eventually her curiosity once again got the better of her and she looked back into the box she was destined to carry with her forever. What she found was a small seed of light glistening at the bottom, pulsating with a quiet beat. She took the object in her hands curiously. What she held, that tiny beat of life, was hope. It was all she had left.

They had spent days planning their next moves. Moving constantly from place to place, not staying in any one area for very long. During my nights on watch I practiced influencing the trees and earth around me. Sometimes successful, other times I became frustrated with the lack of acceleration. Normally everything came so easy for me, a testament of the power I truly held inside. It was nearing Christmastime, and the Earth was sleeping on our side of the world. Vegetation lay in stasis, animals mostly in hiding except the few that ventured out into the open fields looking for food. The boys were beginning to look as worn as I felt. Food was scarce and cold and not as nutritionally sound as it used to be. Our clothes were beginning to look threadbare and dirty as cleaning charms only did so much to help. We tried to keep magic down to a minimum to avoid the Snatchers whom we had only passed twice on our journey. Our hair was ragged and long, and both boys had more facial hair than deemed necessary, though it worked in our favor to hide our identities. Correspondence was slow, the girls were all struggling to control their element while avoiding punishment at the school. Except Pansy of course who was among the top tier of students favored by the Slytherin majority. Her and Draco shared a suite being newlyweds and were able to use their status to subtly help out those in need.

"We need to make an active move. We've spent so much time just moving about and coming up with ideas but we need to do something proactive. It should be Christmas holidays this week. We can stop and see Luna at home, maybe even stop at the Burrow for food." Ron asked hopefully.

"You know if we stopped to see your family Ron that your mother would never let us leave again." Harry replied, shocked that he beat me to it.

"You're right though in that we can go see Luna. It'll be easier to talk to her than to try to ask about it over letters." I tried to use as an excuse. She would answer anything quick in a letter but seeing as how we had no way to destroy the horcruxes yet, there was no hurry to find the last one until we figured out how to destroy them too. I did however want to see Luna for another manner altogether, since it was stated she had advanced the most with her element learning.

"We'll head that way in the morning. Tonight we should get some sleep. Harry do you want the first watch?" I asked knowing that it was his turn anyway.

"Sure." He mentioned as he headed out front to take post.

Exhausted I changed into pj's and layed my head down on the pillow when a letter appeared. It was short and to the point and didn't warrant a response message. As soon as I read it the paper spontaneously combusted.

_H,_

_Do not be alarmed if you see the news. It's a well placed rouse. Stay safe._

_D_

What more could society do to them that would upset me further. They had already forced the man I loved and a girl who was subtly becoming a friend into marriage against their will. What else could possibly go wrong? Pureblood wizarding laws…

"Holy crap!"

"What's wrong Hermione?" Ron asked sleepily.

"Nothing I thought I saw something. Go to sleep."

Pureblood wizard laws only applied to purebloods. Pansy is Muggleborn. I can't believe I didn't put the two together until now. Naturally Draco still doesn't know, but she must have known, which is why she didn't seem overly worried about it. She knows that once the war is over, if we won, she can have her marriage annulled due to fraud. Naturally Lucius Malfoy will want to get rid of her when he finds out she's not who she claims to be. It'll be scandalous, but possible; especially since I had a hunch that Pansy was interested in someone else, possibly another pureblood and at the least a Slytherin. Otherwise she wouldn't have made the comment before about 'him never accepting her.' 'Wonder who it could be,' I thought as I felt Hypnos work his magic.

And was loudly awakened not long later by two very loud boisterous boys shouting outside the tent.

"We got it! Ron was amazing! The sword just appeared and then he stabbed it and suddenly 'poof'!" Harry shouted out of breath.

"What are you talking about? And start from the beginning. Is that the sword of Gryffindor?" I asked Ron who was holding the suspicious object.

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep and you were dead and gone to the world so I went outside to talk for a bit. Then I noticed he had left and was following what looked like a patronus towards the lake…"

"It was a doe patronus." Harry chimed in.

"Yeah, anyway so next thing I know Harry just takes off his clothes and jumps into the lake like he was possessed or something. So I went in after him when he froze up and couldn't get back out. Next thing you know he's pulling out this sword. Harry had on the necklace and I stabbed the necklace with the sword and poof, destroyed." He claimed with a smile as he deposited the burnt object in question into my hand. Torn between terror at what they did and pride at their accomplishments, pride won as I ran over and hugged the boy senseless.

"Idiot." I added with tears of joy in my eyes.

"Let's get cleaned up and ready to go. Harry I can put the sword in my bag at the moment to make traveling easier."

"Yeah sure. We don't need it at the moment anyway." He responded. Once everything was cleaned up and ready to move on Ron took the lead. He was the only one who knew how to get to the Lovegood house anyway.

Apparating a ways from the building, we walked over and up a small hill before reaching the dominating stone structure. Ron, being preoccupied of watching his house from the distance, kept up the rear as Harry took the lead. The house seemed cold, unique, and fit the family duo perfectly. The train should have arrived last night, so hopefully the family would be home and awake by now.

"Good morning Mr. Lovegood. We were hoping Luna was home to talk to her." Harry asked as the blonde haired man opened the door for them. He seemed a bit frazzled, and sketchy. Nothing like the man they met back at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Something seemed off.

"She's actually down at the creek picking fresh water plimpies. Give her a few minutes and she should be right up. Can I offer you any tea a while? I grow the leaves myself in the garden." He said with a smile. Ron, more excited about the offer of tea cakes to go along with the tea, happily agreed for it had been a long time since we had such luxuries. Time went by with Harry and Mr. Lovegood talking about various things, Ron chipping in when possible. The tea was dreadful, so I politely declined a second round and asked instead to use the loo. Glancing in on Luna's room along the way I noticed things hadn't looked touched in months. Clearly she hadn't been here. But then why did Mr. Lovegood lie?

_H,_

_An unexpected moon guest arrived last evening. DO NOT ATTEMPT RESCUE. I am making sure they stay alive and as well as expected._

_D_

Crap.

"Harry, let's just leave Mr. Lovegood with a message for Luna. We really need to be on our way. I'm sure you understand sir. Thank you so much for your hospitality." I stated in a hurry as I rejoined the group in the living room. Seeing my look of distress, Harry caught on that something wasn't right. Ron, still clueless was munching on another cake.

"But you can't leave yet. Wait just a little bit more."

"Sorry sir." I said again as we went to leave. The door locked in front of us and the sounds of Death Eaters were approaching. I noticed Harry had gotten the sword of Gryffindor out of my bag. Knowing we couldn't escape I quickly tried to think of something else. I shot a spell at Harry, making his face large and full of pus filled pimples to hide what I could of the scar. The three of us ducked out of the house and made a run for it as fast we could, knowing that escape was not going to happen. Two men shot spells out instantly stopping us. Grabbing our clothes and apparating us instantly.

We arrived in a home that should have been unfamiliar, but after seeing the relics and décor I knew it could belong to only one person, the home of my lover's family. They had taken us to Voldemorts headquarters: Malfoy Manor.

"The girl claims she's Penelope Clearwater, but I swear the boy is Harry Potter." One of the Snatchers told Bellatrix and the Malfoys. I looked over and saw the masked expression of Draco and his wife Pansy. I felt the air in the room moving about more quickly then should have been possible. Pansy was lucky her element was more easily accessible, for she could call it at will. I needed open ground, I would not be able to use my powers so easily here in the stone building. I saw Pansy grabbed Draco's hand, a sign of worry, and a sign of weakness. The air stirred more readily. Three of the goddesses daughters were present, we were treading dangerous ground.

"Draco, is it him? Is this Potter beneath the swelled face and filthy attire?" Lucius greedily asked, waiting for this opportunity to once again be on top of the Death Eater food chain instead of the bottom. Draco, though calm and cool, had to have been battling internally.

"My sword! That sword should be in my vault! Where did you get it! How did you get it!" Bellatrix screamed at us. Her disheveled hair bouncing all over the place. She screamed the question at me even though the sword had been in Harry's hands.

"Does it matter father? I can't tell either way. Just put him down with the others, the Dark Lord will be here soon enough to judge." He exclaimed as he bent down to inspect Harry's face. I heard him softly mumble 'She's in the dungeons' to him before he walked back to Pansy on the other side of the room. Harry masked his surprise at Draco's comment and instantly glanced towards me. I ignored him, knowing though slow on the uptake, he might be catching on to my secret spy.

"Put the boys in the cellar with the rest. Bring up the gobblin. And leave the girl to me." Bellatrix explained to Pettigrew with a sinister smile. Outside I was cool, calm and composed, inside I was praying to every deity I could think of to save me from this mad woman.

The human body is a funny object, capable of so many things. It can grow and shrink, regenerate itself to a degree, keep you warm, keep you cool, and in the face of immense pain it can shelter you internally. A self help mechanism wired for times of duress. As Bellatrix spent minutes throwing every curse imaginable at me, except the ultimate one: the killing curse, my mind retreated into itself to where I could no longer feel the pain she was inflicting.

"Draco sweetie, are you sure you want your pregnant wife to be watching this? Her spilled blood may taint the baby you know." Bellatrix mentioned as she was carving the word 'Mudblood' into my arm. The single comment threw me back into a conscious plane, and he knew it too. His eyes locked into mine as she waited for a response.

"She can handle it. She's a Malfoy after all." He retorted.

The next few minutes were another chaotic scene straight from an action movie. Ron and Harry were barreling through the door with Dobby, wands blazing. I felt Pansy moving the air as best she could, levitating objects to disarm Bellatrix and the senior Malfoys. I had enough energy to grab the crazed woman's wand and rush to Dobby's side as he apparated the three of us away. Unfortunately it wasn't before Bellatrix's dagger hit him first.

"Where are we?" I asked as I regained consciousness a little while later. I looked into the soft blue eyes of Fleur Weasley who was holding a vile of blue potion.

"Shell Cottage, our home. Dobby brought you all here." She quietly stated, obviously hoping I would fill in the blanks of what happened.

"Is everyone okay? Where are Harry and Ron?"

"Luna is sleeping, the men roughed her up a bit when they stole her from the Hogwarts Platform. Nothing major, just a minor head wound and some bruised ribs. The gobblin is upstairs having his supper. The boys are outback burying Dobby. Bill is getting everyone a spare bit of clothes." She replied. Grateful for her hospitality and the prospect of proper grooming, I smiled back to her.

"Thank you, Fleur."

"It is no problem. Would you like to shower now? Then maybe we can trim your hair a bit."

"I would love that so much, thank you. For everything." I replied. And went to do just as she suggested. An hour later with a fresh haircut, new clothes and a decent shower I met up with the boys who look to have had the same treatment. Luna had also joined the party downstairs after napping off her injuries. The only one missing was the said gobblin who was grateful but cranky and stayed out of their way. I could feel Luna's eyes on me, willing a moment of privacy to talk, but I knew Harry had more questions. While Ron distracted his brother and sister-in-law, Harry and I went for a walk on the beach.

"Please tell me he isn't your informant." He groaned just a little bit. When I didn't respond fast enough he took the affirmation.

"How! It's Malfoy! His family is part of His inner circle. He hates muggleborns. He's married to a pureblood elitist too. Wait…he is married. What kind of arrangement do you two even have?" Typical boy…

"Harry it's kind of a long story. And I want to tell you all of it but there's still the danger of your connection to the Dark Lord that puts anything I tell you into jeopardy. Malfoy isn't who he appears to be and he has a reason for helping me. Me and Pansy made a sort of truce you could say this past year, again I cannot tell you the whole story, but she's not that bad of a person, and he will do anything to protect her, and that includes helping me." Okay so not technically the whole story, or even the truth, but not necessarily a lie either. If we haven't been romantically involved, and Draco found out Pansy's secret, he would still help us for her sake. Best friends protect one another, just like me and the boys.

"Fuck this stupid connection." He shouted aloud. I raised my eyebrows. It wasn't often that Harry was angry enough to toss out curse words.

"Does any of this have to do with our mission, the horcruxes?" He asked curiously.

"No, not with those. That is our task alone and I can say he truthfully doesn't know about that. I've asked him about the artifacts but he never asked why and for what purpose. What I'm helping Pansy with and what I'm helping you with are two different entities entirely. Don't worry Harry. I wouldn't jeopardize our mission and your life if I wasn't 100 percent certain of what I was doing." Well truthfully I was only about 75 percent certain I knew what I was doing but I wasn't going to tell him that. As we headed back along the sand I saw Luna standing at the edge of the property.

"Do you mind Harry? I need to talk to Luna privately. I won't forget to ask her about the Ravenclaw object too, I promise." I smiled at him as I watched his figure join up with Ron's on the back porch. I noticed Ron had a wistful eye on Luna for the past few minutes as well.

Embracing the blonde haired girl we got down to business.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Are you?" She cleverly retorted with a small sparkle in her eye.

"Have you heard anything from the others lately? Particularly before you left?"

"P's seeming to get better at her element. Gin's still have some small problems with anything bigger than a candle but she's quick to temper so it's no surprise." Luna's singsong voice coupled with blunt honesty was usually refreshing in these kind of moments.

"I heard yours seem the most advanced." I replied once we were out of sight of the others.

She didn't respond to the bait but instead I saw her lean down and touch the calming waves of the ocean. A small ripple started, followed by a cyclone formation. A smile appeared on the child-like face of the woman beside me as she swirled the water round and round. She could just about manipulate it in every which way possible. I was envious. Clearly her artistic mind was born for something like this. Her childlike innocence allowing her to reach all kinds of possibilities.

"What about you?" She asked a few minutes later as she calmed the waters back down.

I walked over to where there were a few trees, since they were my biggest success (still couldn't fully master the soil completely). Placing my hand against the tree I focused my energy deep into the roots to the others beyond. It was easier in the woods where trees are falling upon one another. By the ocean they're more spaced out. I willed the branches to move about, even getting the ground beneath us to rumble for a moment, before allowing it to calm back down.

"Can you not use the soil or sand yet?" She asked quizzically.

"Not very well." I responded. As I placed my hand down into the sand and tried to manipulate it to my will.

"You need to visualize better. You're limited by your mind Hermione."

"What do you mean?" I responded, feeling my pride a bit wounded.

"You're too logical. To you a tree is only what it has been taught to you. Branches swaying in the breeze, sand moving against the ocean and wind. So when you're trying to manipulate it, you do exactly as what everything else does to manipulate those objects."

"I can't just defy logic."

"You did when you discovered you were magical. What makes this so different?" She had a point there.

"Picture the sand dancing around you. Or rock rising up from the ground. Tree branches bending forward to touch your hands. Vines twisting up to wrap around you. Imagine, possibilities." She said as she ran to dip herself in the ocean. I watched her lithe form float on top of the waves, then rise up and swirl around her. I was envious of her skill, of her unlocked imagination. But she had a point. I was taught to be a very logical person. Things are what they are because of x, y, z. At the age of 11 I was taught that there are things that defy logic, an entire world made up of things that defied scientific reasoning. So here I was once again locked by what I knew was, and what I thought could be. So I did the one thing I could think of. I defied reasoning. I made sand fly.

The thrill was like any other, feeling vines twist about you in a cocoon, feeling the sand move to your every whim. Trees bending down to shake your hands.

"Luna you're brilliant!" I shouted in amazement as we walked back towards the house before the others happened on our secret.

"I had to help Ginny with the same problem, she was fearful of being burned."

"Luna, did Rowena Ravenclaw have an artifact, an object she valued of any sort." I asked the girl before I forgot and made the boys angry.

"Her diadem was her most prized object. She wore it constantly they say. But it went missing a long time ago. No one has seen it in ages."

"I take it then it's a type of crown?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, but much smaller. Like a pretty headband. There's a likeliness of it in our common room on the statue of Rowena herself."

"Maybe I can find something about it in my books. Thank you though. It's a big help."

"Are you guys leaving soon?"

"Probably. I think you should stay here Luna, or go back to your father's." Not mentioning that his father caused some of the mess we were in.

"I would like to return to school. Ginny needs me. It's soon time to test our powers after all."

"You think the battle will be soon?" I asked her truthfully.

"Oh yes. The nargles told me so."

After dinner the boys and I retreated upstairs to their makeshift bedroom.

"We cannot give him the sword Harry. He's a goblin."

"But we need him to get into Gringott's Ron."

"We need both ultimately. But if I had to chose, I'd choose the goblin, Ron. Once we destroy the cup and diadem we can give it to him. We won't need it anymore anyway once the horcruxes are destroyed."

"Don't forget the snake." Harry added.

We were discussing our upcoming break in of the bank and how we wanted to approach Grimhook. He would only help us if we gave him the sword of Gryffindor. Claiming it was property of their kind. However, we needed the sword too. But the sword would do us no good without the horcruxes.

"We'll tell him he can have it. We just won't say when. Hermione's right, we need him first and foremost to help us break in."

"I'm still not comfortable with this plan." I added.

"It's perfect, Hermione. You have Bellatrix's wand and we have her hair and a set of clothes. It can't go wrong!"

Famous last words song by a Weasley. We set the date for our invasion for four days later. Once everyone had healed and rested we devised a plan with Grimhook on how to proceed. He gave us plenty of good pointers to watch out for during the long descent to the oldest vaults. We were almost home free until the detection alarm for frauds went off. After being temporarily locked inside the Lestrange vault complete with all the fun charms warded by those most paranoid of their fortunes being stolen, we managed a narrow escape on a blind dragon and flew off in the distance lucky to still have our skin intact.

"Why is it nothing can ever go easy. There's always something." Ron shouted to the sky above him in wonder.

"On the bright side we managed to get the cup." Said Harry the optimist.

"At the expense of that little shit stealing our sword." Ron retorted back.

"Let's just relax for a moment and figure out where we are going next." I said as the boys went to change their attire.

_H,_

_Can't stay out of trouble for five minutes can you. He is getting worried. He knows what you're doing on your mission. He also suspects you have one of the stones and are a holder. He's pissed, and he's calling in support. He thinks you're coming to the school next._

_D_

As I finished reading the note Harry screamed aloud in pain.

"He knows." He stated to us.

"I know. I just got warning. He's checking the location of the other horcruxes. He thinks we're going to the school next and calling in back up." I replied.

"Why does he think we're going to the school?" Ron asked quizzically.

"The diadem must be there somewhere. He must have hidden it at some point either when he was in school or when visiting the school. We have to go back." Harry explained.

"But how do we get there undetected. We can't just apparate to the boundaries and walk in. I'm sure the place is protected." Ron responded.

"We know the hidden passages. We could go to through town and take the hidden passage at Honeydukes." I replied back. Grateful for once that Ron's brothers gave Harry that map.

"It's our best option. If we don't go know then we'll lose this window of time before more support arrives." Harry explained.

We had barely apparated into Hogsmeade when the alarm sounded. Panicked, shaken, and uncertain we were nearly caught when a hand grabbed us from behind and tossed us inside.

"What the hell are you three thinking!" the old man shouted at them as he fended off questions from the Death Eater troops that showed up moments later.

"Who are you." I asked the man.

"He's the barman at the Hogs Head." Ron replied instead. The man nodded in acknowledgement though it was obvious the man owned the establishment we were currently residing in.

"The name's Aberforth Dumbledore. I believe you knew my brother."


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Sink or Swim

**Chapter Fourteen: Sink or Swim**

"_Caught in the middle of a cross-fire  
Lost my balance on a high-wire  
Trying to figure out what to do_

Pushed to the edge of my reason  
Everywhere around me in treason  
I don't want to do that to you

Kamikaze airplanes in the sky  
Are we going down or will we fly  
This could be a ship wreck on the shore  
Or we could sail away forevermore  
This time it's sink or swim  
Sink or swim"

_~Tyrone Wells "Sink or Swim"_

"What the heck do you three think you're doing walking into town like that with Death Eater's everywhere! Are you trying to get yourselves killed!" The man shouted at them. Upon closer inspection he did seem to look a lot like the former headmaster. Both had an unusual shade of blue eyes.

"We need to get to the school. Dumbledore left us a mission to accomplish and the last piece we need is inside the school. But it's so protected right now. Please, you have to help us. We're so close to finishing this." Harry pleaded.

"My brother was an idiot if he left such an important task to a group of teenagers. But I'll help you. You know what to do." He turned and spoke to the portrait of a young girl behind him. The girl disappeared and a corridor appeared minutes later. A figure was approaching, one we knew very well.

"NEVILLE!" Ron and Harry shouted simultaneously. Neville Longbottom was walking through the makeshift corridor, looking a bit worse for wear.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"The twin terrors. They don't like people speaking back to them unfortunately. We've taken to hiding out in the school now like refugees. Come, I'll show you."

We followed him through the portrait and into the crowded Room of Requirement. Students were spread out everywhere in various states of disarray. But everyone turned and smiled when the Boy Who Lived approached. Like Pandora, their hope was now here in their hands.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" Friends and acquaintances shouted at us alike.

"We've already alerted the rest of the D.A. and members of the Order. We're waiting on your next move Harry. It was tipped off to us by someone that you would be arriving." Neville explained. Harry looked over at me and I smiled, knowing full well who the insider was.

"Luna, Harry needs to see the diadem you told me about. Do you think you can sneak him into the Ravenclaw common room?" I asked, seeing her blonde hair appear from behind Neville's. She smiled sweetly at Ron who blushed back before grabbing Harry's hand and walking off with the invisibility cloak.

"What should we do in the meantime?" Neville asked the both of us.

"Ron, you're the strategist, how do you want to proceed?" I turned and asked him, boosting his ego just a little bit.

"I have a theory on how to destroy the cup, but we'll need time to sneak into the girl lavatory again. Until then we need to split up teams. When the rest of the group arrives we'll need to divide and conquer to get the twin terrors and Snape out of the castle. Then the professors can help us build a defense barrier to bide time. We can use that time to destroy the cup and hopefully Harry will have an idea where to look for the diadem by then too." As Ron was explaining his plan more members were arriving from both the D.A. and the Order. It was also about that time that we heard a disturbance coming from near the Great Hall. Armed, we all took off, leaving the Room of Requirement empty.

"They spotted us, the Carrows. They warned him we were in. McGonagall got rid of Snape." Harry breathlessly responded, clearly out of wind. The Great Hall was packed with students, Harry was outed at last. Fortunately we outnumbered the Slytherin's and the Carrows were defeated.

"What do you need Pottter." McGonagall asked as they all looked to their hope which was Harry.

"Let the students go, we know a passage to get them away. Those that are old enough and want to can stay and fight. Let the Slytherin's leave first, as I don't trust them." At this Pansy snorted for good measure.

"Why don't we just kill you now Potter and save Him the effort?" She raised her eyebrows at her snarky comment. I knew it was for show, but the girl was very believable in her efforts.

"Stuff it ferret lover." Ron replied half heartedly. I had to hold back a snort at the comment.

"I need time, Professor. As much as you can give me at the moment." Harry explained as the rest of the adults rushed around to start preparing for battle.

"Depending on their numbers we can hold them off for maybe an hour at best. But work quickly Mr. Potter."

I noticed Pansy and Draco had stepped back out of the foray of Slytherin's being rounded up and shipped off. Some had to be detained in the dungeons for not complying. Both nodded ever so slightly at me as the three of us turned and went on to our own journey.

"Where do you want to start?" Harry asked.

"The Chamber of Secrets. We can get a basilisk tooth and use it to destroy both objects." Ron replied as we ran in the direction of the Myrtle's bathroom. Everywhere around us people were running chaotically, most didn't even notice them go inside. The task didn't take long, and to test our theory the boys allowed me to destroy the horcrux cup, naturally I cried the whole time doing it as the force of the magical object tried to fight my every move. Grabbing another tooth, we set back up out of the chamber to join the foray once again.

"Do you know where the diadem is at?" I asked Harry who was starting to look more confident now that there were only two left.

"I think so. Remember last year when I had the Half-Blood Prince book and you made me get rid of it?" He started as we made our way back up the castle.

"Yeah. Ginny said you ditched it somewhere." Ron explained.

"The Room of Requirement. Only it wasn't the same room we were just in. Since the room takes on what the person needs it to, when a person is trying to hide an object the room becomes this cluttered closet of sorts. It had all sorts of things in it that are forbidden to own. I think I remember it being there, or at the least it's the only logical place He could have hidden it."

His theory made perfect sense, and Ginny had confirmed the story of a room full of what she deemed "useless crap" after the incident happened. Particularly the kiss the two shared while being in there together. Unfortunately we would have to kick the current occupants out of the room before allowing it to take a new shape.

"Hey guys." Ginny announced as we walked in. She was helping the last of the younger students through the portrait.

"Ginny we need to get back into the Room the way it was when you and Harry ditched the book." Ron mentioned.

"So you're kicking me out? Awesome. Mum forbade me from fighting but now I have an excuse to leave. See you later." She happily chimed and headed out towards the rest of her family and friends. But not before winking at me along the way.

The plan was foul proof, except of course we were followed by fools. Draco, following us to make sure I was protected didn't realize his two goon friends were also tailing him. They made it into the room with us and started a cursed fire that instantly took control of the room. Crab lost his life to his own misgivings.

"Harry! The diadem!" I shouted from the back of Ron's broom. Though crowded, we grabbed Goyle on the way out who had almost joined his friend in the Fiendfyre. Harry grabbed a hold of Draco who was pretending to hate Harry but was really helping us search for the object.

"I can't get it, it's going into the fire!" He shouted back. And we all watched as the fire took hold of the object, releasing a dark cloud of smoke with a scream. We had no choice but to retreat.

"Is it destroyed?" I asked as we got off the brooms. Goyle high tailed it immediately far away from us, Draco lingered which seemed to off put Ron immensely.

"Fiendfyre is cursed fire. Whatever you were looking for would be destroyed instantly." Draco replied.

"It's no basilisk tooth but I guess it works." Harry replied half heartedly. However our mirth was cut short by the sound of crashing going on in the building. The Death Eater's had broken through the wards.

"We have to go, we have to help the others." Harry shouted over the noise.

"Go! I'll be right behind you guys." I replied. They didn't look the least bit happy, but they knew Draco had been our spy all these months, they owed him this.

"I have to go, or our cover is blown. Pansy's cover will be blown." He said as he placed his forehead on mine. Breathing in the sight of him after all this time apart was like a welcomed breath of fresh air.

"You know then?" I asked. He nodded.

"She told after the incident at the Manor. Though I had suspected something was going on if she was friends with you. She admitted she's Air. Though I recognized her necklace one day and suspected long before that."

"If you know the truth then you'll know her cover will be blown eventually anyway. She's safer here with us. We need her power." Draco didn't look happy with that bit of information.

"What will I tell them when I show up without her!" He exclaimed.

"I kidnapped her and have her wand being held hostage. It's not as though we don't have a room full of Slytherin prisoner's anyway." I shrugged in response. He knew she was right.

"I need to protect my mother as well. She's not father, she doesn't believe all that crap. She's good I swear to you."

"Okay. Go and protect her. I'll watch Pansy. I won't let anyone turn her in you have my word." He kissed my lips silently before moving away.

"I will come back for you. For both of you. Just stay alive and I will find you." And then he was gone.

The battle loomed on with spells and hexes flying from every corner of the walls. I watched as good witches and wizards fell before me, friends and fellow students, one by one. We lost Ron's brother Fred within the first 20 minutes to a stray curse. Remus and Tonks went down while protecting each other's back against a group of Death Eater's. The only positive side was when Molly Weasley took down Bellatrix after the crazed woman attempted to kill her only daughter. We were starting to lose too many good people and the war was tipping against us in favor. I knew it was time. Harry and Voldemort were locked in a deadlock battle of power. They're wands both equal, twin cores of unending force.

A stray curse was about to hit me when a sudden burst of flame vanished it from sight. I looked over to see Ginny grinning madly that she had finally managed to control her fire power. Luna was already using the water of the Great Lake to bend to her will, and her power was attracting the Death Eaters. It wouldn't take long for them to discover who we were and what we could do.

I noticed a curse being thrown in Ron's direction and slammed my hand to the ground and will the earth to move. A great crevice formed and I watched as the earth literally swallowed a pile of Death Eater's whole. To protect him Ron I had a tree limb toss him out of reach.

"Damn Hermione couldn't you have just thrown a shield instead." He said rubbing his sore back. I grinned.

"Baby." And took off to find my sisters. It was time.

"Ginny! Luna!" I shouted to the two girls who were fighting together. Rather it seemed as though Ginny was protecting Luna, seeing as Ginny was the more aggressive fighter. They both nodded in affirmation and followed behind me as I searched for Pansy. I found her at the back of the foray looking stiff and bored.

"Looking for me?" She smirked, and I stared off at her general direction. I could tell she was using her powers of air to knock a few Death Eater's away. It proved she was fighting but not for which side.

"That was a hell of a trick Gryffindor. Opening up the earth like that. I'm jealous." And with a smile we took off to find Harry.

They were at the edge of the battle ground and it took plenty of effort to get to them. It would have been so easy to just open up the earth again and let it swallow Voldemort but he would just be reborn. Harry had to kill him, and part of me was worried that they both had to die for it to be permanent.

"So what exactly are we supposed to do?" Ginny asked as we hid amongst the Hogwarts ruins.

"I think we have to touch him."

"That receives a dirty."

"Oh shut up Parkinson. What I mean is the stones are attached to us, it's our source of power, well it's our source of 'their' powers. So if we can get close enough to touch him, even if we link up and only one is touching him, then that boost of power will give his wand the edge it need to break the twin core trap its in."

"So do we just make a run for it?" Ginny replied.

"We need a diversion. We need to make it seem like we're not running towards them even though we are. We use our powers at different points while running in Harry's direction. On three. One. Two. Three." And then we were off, I created a sandstorm to shield others from our view. Luna created a tidal wave to knock off as many Death Eater's as possible in our direction. Pansy blew hurricane force winds to those tailing us while Ginny used the torches surrounding the school to drop fire bombs on our enemies.

Ginny, being the athlete was the first to reach Harry with Pansy not far behind her. I heard Ginny whispering in Harry's ear, ensuring him of our plans as Pansy fought off anyone trailing us. I reached Pansy seconds later, grabbing on as best I could. All that was left was Luna…

She caught a stray curse almost directly in the right temple and crumbled instantly to the ground. I left Pansy's arm dangling in the breeze as I ran to catch my fallen friend.

"Her..mi..one.." She barely could whisper out. Her large blue eyes barely slits now and filling up quickly with tears.

"Hang in there Luna, we'll help you. Just hang on!" I screamed over the loudness of the battle behind us. I noticed her face swelling slightly and prayed that she didn't have internal damage. Grabbing her arms I dragged her the last few feet to the rest of the crew. It was hard as Harry couldn't maintain a steady stance. Voldemort, seeing four women now coming to Harry's rescue feared the worse, and knew the end was near.

"Quickly Granger!" Pansy shouted as I latched onto her hand, still hold Luna in the other. It was an amazing feeling, the rush of power as the four of us connected together. Ginny moved her hand down from Harry's shoulder to his outstretched wand, making the connection stronger and more powerful. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the destruction around me anymore. The rush of power was a thrill and I knew we had finally tipped the odds in our favor. I also knew it would drain every last one of us of our power. The blast that ensued, breaking Voldemort's wand from Harry's and delivering the final blow sent us straight into the stone walls of our beloved school. And then there was darkness…


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Somewhere Only We Know

**Chapter Fifteen: Somewhere Only We Know**

"_I walked across an empty land  
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand  
I felt the earth beneath my feet  
Sat by the river and it made me complete_

Oh simple thing where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on  
So tell me when you're gonna let me in  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree  
I felt the branches of it looking at me  
Is this the place we used to love?  
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Oh simple thing where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on  
So tell me when you're gonna let me in  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don't we go  
Talk about it somewhere only we know?  
This could be the end of everything  
So why don't we go  
Somewhere only we know?"

_~Keane "Somewhere Only We Know"_

The four of us stood on a precipice, the earth beneath our feet, the wind blowing in our hair, the water crashing against the shore behind us, and the sun, a ball of fire, blazing brightly in the sky. We were all in our protector's traditional garments: Ginny in a beautiful medieval red gown, Luna in a simple white and blue sheath that covered very little and looked like silk against her pale skin. Pansy stood proud in gold and white looking more Egyptian than Mesopotamian, and myself in a green gown cut in the traditional Grecian style. Our 'mothers' stood before us in twin garb.

"You did well daughters'. You discovered your power and tipped the odds in favor of saving your friends, family, and your way of life. You have our favor, our respect, and our love." Brigid began. Her flaming red hair a riot of curls, her eyes twin coal gray sparks.

"So what happens now?" Pansy asked, turning to her protector: Inanna.

"You have a choice of course, you can remain here on this plain with us, keeping your power and watching over the world. Or you can return the items gifted to you and return to the earth exactly as you were before this journey began." Ran explained.

"What's the catch? There's always a catch with these kind of deals." Pansy, the skeptic, had to ask.

"One of you has to stay." Gaia replied as the girls all turned to stare at her.

"That's not fair! You never said that would happen!" Ginny shouted at them in anger, flames igniting beneath her palms.

"It's a sacrifice that must happen, besides, it changes nothing in the outcome." Inanna spoke softly. Confused we all turned to each other in question. Only one continued staring at the goddesses before them. Luna.

"It's okay, I knew this would happen." Luna mentioned softly with a smile. As though she had already resounded herself to her fate.

"I have lived, trapped in my mind since my mother's accident. It was painful to listen to the whispered comments about the odd girl Luna. I never let it bother me, but deep inside, the part that got trapped there by the explosion, desperately wanting to come out, wouldn't let me. I've been stuck inside a child's mind and now I have an opportunity to free myself. Ran saved me from my mother's accident, but there is no one to save me from Voldemort's. Right now my mind is swelling from the pressure of the curse and the explosion. It's better this way." She smiled lastly directly at me.

"What about Ron?" I asked, avoiding the tears that threatened to crash over my eyes.

"Give him my love, he'll find happiness again don't worry. I have foreseen it."

Ginny went first, hugging her fiercely and telling her she would have been proud to have her as a sister-in-law. Turning to Brigid she handed back her carnelian ring and exclaimed.

"Send me home." With a sad smile, Brigid: Fire Goddess of the Celts, sent her daughter back to earth.

"Guess I'm next." Pansy humorously exclaimed.

"Thank you." She mentioned towards Luna, who bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"See you on the other side Granger." And then she handed Inanna: the Sumerian Queen of the heaven and sky, her tiger's eye necklace and with a quick flick of her wrist, Pansy was gone. And then there was me.

"Is Harry alright? Did he die too?" I asked anxiously, avoiding going back until I knew and prepared for what lay ahead of me.

"He had someone else who needed to talk to him in limbo. But he will be fine. Though a piece of him had to die, your powers gave him back the life he needed." Gaia replied.

"So we saved him but we couldn't save her?" I asked pointing to Luna.

"It had to be done, Hermione. This was how it was supposed to end. You are not losing Luna to death. Rather, you are giving her the chance at a true life, a full life. Something that had been denied to her before. Had she stayed she would always have lived a half life, never completely happy. Never quite herself. It's better this way." Grudgingly I knew what she meant was true though I still didn't like it. But knowing Harry would be alright, knowing that he and Ginny would finally get their happy ending and the world become a better place, that was strength enough to get me through. I turned to Luna and hugged her tightly as I could.

"I will never forget you. You always had a friend in us, you fought with us when no one else believed us. I am proud to have called you a friend. I hope you finally find peace and happiness here on this plane. Maybe someday we will meet again." I smiled and kissed her pale cheek softly.

"Send me home please." I said to Gaia: the Grecian Mother Earth Goddess, as I handed her my bracelet.

"Go now, daughter. Your friends are waiting." She said softly as the mist rose up and my body disappeared.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Forever Young

**Chapter Sixteen: Forever Young**

"_May good fortune be with you  
May your guiding light be strong  
Build a stairway to heaven  
With a prince or a vagabond_

And may you never love in vain  
And in my heart you'll always remain  
Forever young"

_~Rod Stewart "Forever Young"_

Life is too short to forget to live each day to its fullest.

The light of the hospital was blinding. At first all I could hear was the rush of what felt like hundreds of voices shouting in my ear. In reality it was only a handful, but still.

"I think she's waking up guys." I recognized that voice as Ginny's. It seems that being the first to come back meant she got to be a bit more conscious before me.

"How do you feel Hermione?" That voice was the stronghold of the Weasley clan, Molly.

"Like I got ran over by a train." I croaked as I felt the Healer's poke and prod me with their wands.

I finally adapted enough to the light and glanced at the group of people before me. Apparently I was the last one to recover as everyone else was settled around my room. With a few surprises. Like Pansy holding on to the arm of one Blaise Zabini. Clearly I have been missing something.

"How long was I out for?" I asked with a raised eyebrow in Pansy's direction.

"Five days. You took the worst hit. Well…besides Luna." Ginny replied as she glanced over in Ron's direction. He looked worse for wear, but not as bad as I would have expected from him.

"We told them, everything." Pansy replied.

"What happened in the end, after we were knocked out?" I asked, secretly scanning the room for the one face I so desperately wanted to see. I saw Pansy smile knowingly.

"I was the first to come to, I hadn't been knocked out that long. Others were starting to get you guys inside for treatment. Luna was too late to save but you other three were still breathing. You know most of who we lost in the battle: Tonks, Lupin, Fred, Creevy and more. Knowing you were safely in the hands of Healers I looked for Snape. While I was out of it I spoke to Dumbledore in another plane, much the way you three spoke to your protectors. He mentioned to find Snape, that he had something I wanted or needed. So I found him barely breathing, the snake Nagini ripping out his throat earlier. Neville killed the snake while before we took out Voldemort with the sword of Gryffindor."

"How did it come back?" I asked, having missed that apparent moment on the battlefield.

"The sorting hat. He claims he saw it in the sorting hat and reached in and took out Nagini. Anyway, he was losing blood fast, and not amount of healing was going to keep him alive but he asked me to look at him and to take his memories. Curiously I went up to Dumbledore's office and used his old penseive and found out that Snape was helping us all along; that he had met my mother when they were children and he fell in love with her. He turned to the Dark Arts and she began to distance herself from him. He told Voldemort about the prophecy, but then begged Dumbledore for mercy. Dumbledore made him a spy and told him that to honor her memory he should protect me, her only child. So he did. I came back and ran into Ron and the family who were told the wounded would be moved to St. Mungo's. Ginny was the first to recover, then Pansy a day later. That's pretty much it. A memorial service is going to be held for the fallen, but they were wanting to wait until you came to. It wouldn't be fair to hold it without your presence."

Smiling at his thoughtfulness I thanked him.

"Where's…"

"Here." A voice said from outside the door. Draco, limping slightly and using a cane to support his weight appeared minutes later. His mother steadying him so he could get into the room.

"You'll be happy to note our divorce papers are at the Ministry as we speak, along with a new long abolishing pureblood marriage clauses." Pansy said with a smirk.

"You don't seem so upset about that." Ginny retorted with a smirk of her own.

"Mudblood and proud weasel. What can I say?"

Draco came closer to the bed and grabbed my hand. The skin on my arm was still an ugly purple from the multiple bruises, but his warmth was comforting and welcoming. Finally we wouldn't have to hide anymore. No more secret letters, no more lies.

"Hermione, we wanted to add your parents names to the memorial list if that's okay. Since you didn't get a chance to have a proper funeral. The girls told us what happened last Christmas break." Harry asked, his arm protectively around Ginny who couldn't stop smiling.

"That would be great Harry, thank you." I replied.

"Alright guys. Let's give the couple some space. Hermione wants some alone time with my soon to be ex-husband and I'm planning on letting her." Pansy not so subtly stated as the clan got up to accommodate.

"Weren't you supposed to be pregnant Pansy?" Molly asked quizzically.

"Faked for the papers. Couldn't stand to see my best friend naked. Even if he was my husband." She replied, her voice trailing down the white hall.

"Weasley, I heard that Lavender Brown chick was here somewhere. Recovering from some kind of bite. She asked about you, you should stop in and see her." Pansy mentioned, then popped her head into the room and winked at me. I knew she was trying to help Ron get over Luna. Luna would have approved.

"I suppose I should get going too. Draco, you'll send a message when you want to be picked up I gather?" Narcissa explained. Her voice sounding much different than I had been used to in the past.

"Yes. As soon as they release her I'll let you bring us both home." He smiled back. With a nod his mother turned and walked out of the room.

"Home?" I questioned.

"Mother's remodeling the Manor. More like demolishing it and having it be rebuilt from scratch. She wants me to be happy, and it's you that makes me happy so she's accommodating. She knows your memories of that place aren't the greatest."

"That's thoughtful of her. So she really approves?"

"I told you she never believed all that stuff. She's closer to Andromeda in personality than to Bellatrix. But she didn't want to disappoint her family so when they told her to marry a Malfoy she obliged without question. There's no love between my parents. And thankfully my father will spend the rest of his days rotting in Azkaban for it."

"I can't believe it's finally over. After all these years, particularly this past year. I can't wait to put this all behind us and move on."

"What do you want to do now? Now that you have a whole life ahead of you?"

"Finish school first. Maybe work for the Ministry now that Kingsley is in charge. I promised Dobby I'd still fight for house elves and other creatures that have less saying in government. So I'd have to say I'll probably be a lawyer then." I told him causually.

"What are your plans?" I asked in reply.

"Finish school as well, definitely. I think I'd like to keep our family businesses open but expand our markets and use the profits to set up more charity efforts. I'm sure mother will love that too, she's great at organizing functions: fundraisers and the like. Give back to those who lost so much these past few years."

"That sounds amazing, Draco. Do they know you were helping us? Did they try to arrest you?"

"Potter and Weasley already knew, and Pansy confirmed her involvement. They hassled mother a bit but since she did not actively participate in anything they couldn't hold her. Just father."

"That's good to hear."

"As for the other half of my plans, they include you, me, and a hotel to make up for the year we were apart."

"Mr. Malfoy, you snake. You're a married man! I wouldn't dream of it!"

"You got my permission kid." A voice from outside the room shouted and I could hear Blaise telling Pansy to shut up or they'd get caught. Apparently we had us some eavesdroppers.

"I think that sounds lovely, Draco." I said and pulled him down for a quick kiss.


	18. Epilogue: Garden of Lies

**AN: It's rushed, it's hurried, but it's done. I had some strong motivation to just get the thing completed finally. I still need to work on my other one but at least I can say after all this time it's complete. Thanks for those who stuck with it, and for new readers I hope you enjoy. And if you're bored read my other Dramione "The Seven Deadly Sins". A bit darker than this one but still happy in the end. **

**Epilogue**

"_Hear the clock ring midnight_

_in this garden we're bound together_

_and we'll lie awake till daylight_

_only to stay away forever_

_And with the strength of voices we'll sing_

_in a garden full of power;_

_a song of lies and dreams,_

_to the sun in dawning hours._

_And here in this garden,_

_our garden of lies._

_Gathering and growing,_

_till everything dies._

_And when it is over,_

_and evil has won;_

_we'll look back and sing,_

_of the wrongs that we've done._

_So come away to our garden,_

_let your evil souls feed._

_The rage will not pardon,_

_your innocent greed._

_And as darkness succumbs,_

_to the heavens you'll cry._

_And the angels will come,_

_to forgive all your lies._

_And here in this garden,_

_our garden of lies._

_Gathering and growing,_

_till everything dies._

_And when it is over,_

_and evil has won._

_We'll look back and sing,_

_of the wrongs that we've done."_

_~Written by me_

_**19 years later**_

Platform 9 ¾ was bristling with the sounds of excited students and harried parents everywhere. My husband was busy trying to lecture our oldest against terrorizing his younger sister, who would be starting her first year at Hogwarts. Both kids had their father's blonde hair color but naturally the girl got stuck with the unruly curls. Somehow they managed to look better on her than they did on me.

"Scorpius listen to your father or we'll take back the new broom we got you." Mother to the rescue. The oldest, both a trouble maker and a surprisingly smart kid stopped in his tracks and pondered for the moment.

"Low blow mum. Well played. James!" And off he went to meet his best friend, and Harry and Ginny's oldest. It seemed that Albus Severus was also getting the same talk that we had to give to Cassie about not being afraid of whichever house they get.

"Cassie honey, you and Al will be in the same grade. So is Rose. You have plenty of friends already. That's more than I ever had when I first got here." I looked into her soft brown-green eyes. She had a dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose just like I did at her age.

"Really? You didn't have any friends when you were here?" She asked quietly.

"Not at first. Then I met your Uncle Harry and Ron and we became really close friends."

"Weren't you and dad friends?" she asked curiously.

"Nope, we pretty much hated each other until 6th year." The man in question snorted at my blunt honesty, but never contradicted me.

"What changed?"

"He finally stopped being a brat, and I realized he wasn't as bad as he pretended to be."

"What your mother meant to say is that she disguised herself and couldn't keep her hands off me."

"Draco! Don't tell her that! Cassie, go on up and sit with the others." I told her as we loaded her trunk into the train.

"Behave yourself, write often. And no dating till you're 30." Draco shouted through the window.

"Draco!" I growled at him.

"Okay, 40."

"Starting your daughter off right I see." I would recognize that smirk anywhere. Pansy Parkinson Zabini exclaimed with a smile. She was impeccably dressed as always, tailored suit and perfectly manicured nails and hair.

"You know it." Draco smiled back and hugged his longtime friend. Blaise stood off side and shook hands with his friend and smiled at myself. Beside him were twin boys, both a year to young to attend Hogwarts yet. Only one had inherited their mothers golden colored eyes.

"Rumor has it that our son has a crush on your daughter. We're taking bets. Care to wager in?" I asked her with a smile.

"My daughter marry a Malfoy. Never. But I'll place my bets. I say he'll be too nervous to ask her out until either she does it, or when they're older. Say 16."

"I have down 15. Draco's trying to influence him to be a man and get it over with. And apparently Blaise threatened to cut off Draco's balls if his son goes near her on fact that Malfoy's tended to be womanizer's in their youths…"

"Now that doesn't sound right." Draco joked as our group made their way over to the other two families waiting beside the train. Harry and Ginny were standing with their youngest, Lily Luna who would attend Hogwarts next year with Pansy and Blaise's boys. Ron and Lavender's youngest, Hugo, would also be in that year. Jokes were made that the group planned to have their kids all around the same time. Truth was once the first group started it turned into baby crazy fever in their households.

The future had turned out better than anyone could have expected. We survived to the best of our abilities and found friends in unusual places. Had anyone told me all those years ago I would be standing here with my soulmate, a Slytherin. That at one point in time I possessed the powers of a Grecian goddess and fought against the darkest wizard imaginable, I would have told them they're crazy. I had a choice all those years ago, to take a chance on magic, or to keep myself grounded and continue on to study muggle medicine. Though I have loved and lost many people since then, I would not change a moment of today's happiness for it could mean a completely different outcome. Watching the next generation pull away in that famous red train I was once again reminded of Pandora holding that box of hope. In the garden of evil that once controlled our world, we found the good, and released it for all the world to share.


End file.
